


The enemy of my enemy

by Bring_me_a_shrubbery



Category: Call of Duty (Video Games)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Angst, Blood and Injury, Dissociative Identity Disorder, Friendship, Gen, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-23
Updated: 2021-01-02
Packaged: 2021-03-10 02:55:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 11
Words: 21,828
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27686564
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bring_me_a_shrubbery/pseuds/Bring_me_a_shrubbery
Summary: When Captain Price gets seperated from his team during a mission in Verdansk he runs into an Allegiance soldier.Together they have to find their teams and learn to trust each other if they want to get out of there alive.
Comments: 34
Kudos: 33





	1. Chapter 1

Krovnik farmland is a breathtaking location. Smaller roads and houses can be found in the area as well as fields of grass. There aren’t any destroyed buildings here and the farmlands might be one of the few locations in Verdansk that doesn’t feel like a warzone.  
Captain Price knows better though. He knows that every part of Verdansk is a warzone; beautiful or not. The sun might be shining on him as he moves through the area; but he holds his rifle in his hands and scans for enemies. This is not the time to relax and take in the scenery. With him on his mission are sergeant Kyle ‘Gaz’ Garrick, lieutenant Simon ‘Ghost’ Riley and corporal Benjamin ‘Otter’ Lee.  
They’ve found Intel that suggests Mr Z might be smuggling even more chemical weapons into Verdansk and they’re heading towards the port to try to stop it.  
The four of them are moving as silently as possible through the area. They keep close to each other communicate through body language alone. Things are quiet to begin with; until Price notices enemy movement ahead of them. He signals for the others to stop as he steps behind a small building to peek around the corner. Ghost is standing by his side as Gaz and Otter check so that no enemies manage to flank them.

Price readies his weapon as he looks at the three foes that are nearing their position. He waits and hopes the enemies are just going to walk past the SAS soldiers without noticing them. They aren’t that lucky though. Ghost whispers that there are five enemies approaching them from behind.  
He barely has the chance to finish his sentence before a shot is fired.  
“Fuck!” Otter swears loudly as the bullet misses him with just a few inches.  
Price turns and shoots one of the enemies before signalling to the team to move east. That way they can move out of the cross fire. They still only have a moment before the enemy flanks them; they are more or less surrounded at the moment. Price knows all that, so he comes up with a plan that might sound a little bit crazy. He turns to look Gaz in the eyes as he speaks.  
“You three move to the east and I’ll go west. That will divide their attention and give us time to escape. We’ll meet back at the rally point, okay?”  
“I’ll go with you, you shouldn’t go alone.” Ghost speaks up from where he’s standing next to Otter.  
The captain just shakes his head. “No time to argue, just go!”  
He peeks out from his cover and shoots one of the enemies before sprinting to another cover. He can see even more enemies approaching their position now and he prays his plan will get them out of there. One of their foes gets shot in the back by Otter and then Gaz yells out that he’s throwing a grenade. The grenade takes out two enemies at once and things look better for the moment.

Price walks a little further away from his team and draws two enemies with him. He has things under control at first; at least until he gets a bit too close to a stone ledge. When he tries to avoid one of the enemies’ shots he accidentally takes a step back.

He loses his footing and falls down the ledge. It’s not a high fall; but he lands with his hip on the ragged edge of a rock and can feel pain spread through the upper part of his leg. He forces himself to ignore the pain as he struggles to get on his feet as fast as possible. He’s lost his rifle in the fall and he quickly reaches for his pistol when he notices that the two enemies have followed him. He is faster than them and shoots one of them in the head and the second in the chest.  
After picking up his rifle he scans the area for more enemies. No one else seems to have followed him. He looks around and finds his hat that must have fallen off when he fell. He picks it up and dusts it off before putting it back on his head.  
Price takes a moment to look around at his surroundings. He’s currently standing close to the rail way. Picking up his binoculars he looks towards the farmlands. It seems quiet for the moment; but the lumber yard is rushing with enemy activity. He just hopes that the others will stay to the east and manage to avoid the danger. The enemies will likely try to follow them though, just as they will try to find him again. They seemed to know they were going to be there. Probably knew why they were there too. Price tries to clear his head of those thoughts. At the moment he just has to focus on what to do. Going back the way he came would be too dangerous. He decides to keep walking until he reaches the stadium. Then go north-east from there until he reaches their rally point at Bloc 18.

Price tries to contact Gaz through his comms, but there’s no answer. He decides to try again.  
“Sergeant Garrick? This is captain Price, do you read me? Over.” Still no response. It seems like there is something wrong with his comms; that was probably the enemies plan all along. Now Price and his team have no way of contacting each other or anyone else.  
This is far from good. Enemies are all over the place and he has no way of knowing if the others are okay. He doesn’t even know if they are still alive.  
He shakes that thought from his head as he studies the landscape around him. There are several places that would be ideal for a sniper. He has to stay on his guard all the time.

He starts walking towards the stadium; rifle ready in case he spots an enemy. He can feel himself limping because of the pain in his leg, but he ignores it. He has to reach the others.  
He keeps an eye out for enemies as he gets closer to the stadium. He reaches the parking lot and carefully moves through it; his eyes darting from side to side. There are cars everywhere as well as plenty of bushes and other potential hiding places for enemies. The problem with moving alone is that checking every corner becomes almost impossible. Especially in a place like this.  
That’s something he becomes very aware of when there’s movement in a bush in front of him and a soldier rises to point his rifle straight at Price.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Since I've only written one-shots before I thought I'd try writing a multi-chapter fic.  
> Comments make me really happy! :D


	2. Chapter 2

Price looks at the man in front of him and sees the Allegiance markings on his jacket. The other man’s face is covered by a mask, but Price can see blue eyes watching his every move. He slowly lowers his own weapon and puts his arms above his head.  
“Easy, soldier. You gonna shoot me?”  
“Only if I have to.”  
Price lets out a chuckle at that. “I’m not exactly a threat at the moment.”  
“You can’t be careful enough. The place is swarming with enemies and I’ve been shot at by Coalition before. Even by Allegiance.” The masked soldier has now lowered his weapon slightly but is still intently watching Price.  
Price just nods. “Verdansk is a dangerous place to be at the moment. Especially alone.”  
“I got separated from my team. My comms aren’t working; I have no way of contacting them. What about you? Why are you on your own?”  
“My team got ambushed and we got separated. Just like you. I’ve been trying to make it to our rally points but Mr Z’s men and Al Qatala are everywhere. It’d be nice if you could lower your weapon. It’s easier to talk that way.”  
“How do I know I can trust you?”  
“You don’t. We do have the same enemy though. So how about we put our differences aside and try to work together on this? Might give us an actual chance to find our teams.”  
The Allegiance soldier hesitates for a moment but does as Price says and lowers his rifle.  
“Come on, we should move inside the stadium; we are easy targets for snipers out here.”  
The masked man nods and follows him inside. The stadium is empty and abandoned; just like the rest of the city. They check that the area is clear of enemies before they move to stand in one of the locker rooms. Now that things have calmed down a little Price takes this moment to study the other man carefully. His clothes are thorn at some places and there’s blood on the side of his jacket.  
“Your blood or the enemy’s?”  
“Mine. A grenade exploded a bit close to comfort.” He shrugs. “I managed to stop the bleeding though; so it should be alright.”  
“What’s your name, soldier?”  
“Nikto”  
Price recognizes the name, or lack thereof, almost immediately. He did background checks on all the Allegiance soldiers before Armistice was found. It had been impossible to trace Nikto’s identity.  
Price doesn’t say anything about all of that though; he just introduces himself.  
“I’m captain Price. Where are you heading?”  
Nikto hesitates a second before he answers. “Krovnik farmland. We agreed to meet there if something were to happen.”  
Price shakes his head. “That’s where my team got ambushed. I also saw enemy movement by the lumber yard. It’s too dangerous.”  
“My team will be heading that way. I have to find them and warn them.”  
“What’s your team’s latest known position?”  
“Lozoff pass. We were just outside the subway station when we were spotted by enemies.”  
Dread rises within Price at the answer. There’s a big risk that the allegiance team takes the route past Block 18 which is where his team is supposed to meet up. Since both teams consider the others as enemies this might not end well.  
“What is it?” Nikto must have noticed that something was wrong.  
“Our rally point is at Block 18. If our teams meet...”  
He doesn’t finish the sentence and he doesn’t have to. He can see in Nikto’s eyes that he understands exactly what might happen.  
“We have to find them before they find each other.”  
Price nods. “We must be careful though; Mr Z has eyes and ears everywhere.”  
He notices the way the spetsnaz soldier flinches when he mentions the name of their enemy but he decides not to say anything about it.  
“Let’s go out through the parking garage and then head east to Bloc 18. Stay on your guard all the time. You with me?”  
Nikto nods and picks up his rifle. “Let’s go.” 

Together they move carefully through the garage. The place is littered with trash and abandoned cars are parked all over. On the walls are posters with pictures of the players of Verdansk FC. Dates of upcoming matches can be seen and it’s sad to think about the lively city this once used to be. Price shakes that thought out of his head as he continues walking. He sees Nikto studying him out of the corner of his eyes.  
“You’re limping. I noticed that earlier too. Is your leg okay?”  
“I took a bit of a tumble earlier and landed on a rock. I think it’s just badly bruised.”  
“Want me to take a look at it?”  
Price shakes head. “It’s not so bad and we don’t have the time to spare. Thanks for the offer though.”  
He smiles at Nikto who nods back at him.

When they reach the place where the underground tunnels end they stop walking for a while to scan the landscape in front of them.  
“It looks clear. What were you doing up in Lozoff pass?” Price turns to look at Nikto. He had forgotten to ask that earlier and if they are going to work together that information might be important.  
“We were going to check the subway station. Intel suggested that the enemy might be using the subway to transport chemical weapons.”  
Price nods. This is what he had been afraid of. Both teams had been trying to stop Mr Z from transporting chemical weapons. Both teams had been ambushed and pushed in the direction of the other team. What if Mr Z planned it that way?  
“My team were heading towards the port because we had Intel suggesting Mr Z was trying to smuggle chemical weapons into Verdansk. Both our teams were ambushed while trying to get our hands on those weapons. What if he knew about our missions? And what if he planned for our teams to run into each other? Maybe he’s hoping we will kill each other so he won’t have to do it.”  
He looks at Nikto and sees anger flash through his eyes.  
“We cannot let him win. We work together and find the others before something happens. And then we destroy him.”  
Price agrees with him but still feels there’s something he needs to ask. He needs to know if he can trust Nikto to keep his feelings in check during all this.  
“Can I ask you something?”  
“Depends on what it is.” Nikto studies Price carefully for any sign of what the question might be.  
“You flinched when I said the name of our enemy before. And I noticed you avoid saying his name.”  
Price sees the way the Spetsnaz soldier looks away to stare at the ground instead.  
He continues: “Look, I’m not gonna ask what was done to you, because I probably don’t even want to know. I just need to know that this isn’t affecting you to the point where you can’t focus on the mission. I need to know that you won’t do anything reckless just because you want revenge.”  
Nikto raises his head again to look Price in the eyes. “You can trust me.”  
“Good.” He pats Nikto on the arm before looking out over the landscape again. “Let’s go. We stay close and move from cover to cover. Look out for snipers.”  
The Spetsnaz soldier nods and follows him out of the tunnels.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now Nikto makes an entrance! :D Since Price is my favourite Coalition operator and Nikto is my favourite Allegiance operator I thought it'd be interesting to write about the two of them working together.  
> Comment what you think about it! Comments make me happy :D


	3. Chapter 3

They move closely together through the forest to the north-east of the stadium. Even though they barely know each other Price notices just how easily they manage to communicate. Nikto is a capable soldier and it feels good to have him by his side. At one point they spot two enemy soldiers walking to their east. Price looks at Nikto and by just a glance and a nod they have decided what to do. They hide until the soldiers have walked past them and then Price steps out of his hiding place behind a tree and puts a bullet in one of them. He looks to his side and sees Nikto lower his rifle; the Russian soldier has taken out their second enemy without a problem.  
“Nice shot.”  
“You’re not so bad yourself.”  
Price can almost hear the smile in Nikto’s voice. He chuckles to himself before they begin to move again. They don’t see any more enemies for a while and things are quiet.

A few minutes go by and Price turns his head to look at Nikto while they are walking. At first he doesn’t quite understand what is happening. Something seems to be off with the Spetsnaz soldier, Price just doesn’t know what. He raises his hand as a signal for Nikto to stop.  
The soldier stops and looks directly at Price; his eyes are surprisingly cold. “What’s wrong?”  
Price is taken aback by his voice. The tone was different; even the accent was heavier than it had been before.  
“You know I could ask you the same thing.”  
“We are wasting time, that’s what’s wrong. You’re not our ally; we just need you for the mission. That’s all. When this is over we’ll go back to being enemies.”  
Price looks at him incredulously; this is like a different person entirely. He knew about Nikto’s disorder but he had never been around a person with an identity disorder before, so someone switching personality out of nowhere isn’t anything he has ever seen before.  
He just shakes his head. “Then let’s go. I need you to listen to me, no matter what your own opinions are. Get it?” He tries to sound as stern as possible; hoping to reach out to whatever personality he’s currently speaking to.  
Nikto scoffs at him and swears in Russian. Price knows exactly what the soldier just called him but decides to let it go. He normally wouldn’t, but in this case reprimanding the other man will just make things much worse.  
At least the Russian follows him when he starts walking again. That’s something.  
Nikto stays silent as they keep moving through the forest. Soon they can spot some houses in-between the trees; meaning it won’t be long until they’re out of the forest.

A few seconds later Price sees something that makes his heart drop to his stomach. The optic glint of a sniper rifle.  
“Sniper, one o’clock!” He throws himself behind a tree at just the right moment; the sniper’s bullet hits another tree that was just behind where he had been standing.  
Turning his head he sees that Nikto has managed to find cover as well. Good.  
He can hear the sniper in front of them alerting others. Four Al Qatala soldiers are now nearing their position from between the buildings in front of them. Then there’s the sniper on one of the rooftops.  
They will simply have to deal with the others first before taking out the sniper. If they stay behind cover they should be alright.  
The four soldiers are closing in on them and Nikto takes out one of them before Price has the time to even blink. The captain then shoots the second soldier in the chest. That levelled out the playing field a little; they are now two verses two.  
A second later one of the two remaining AQ soldiers throws a Molotov cocktail at Price.  
He hurries to get out of the way as he tries to make sure he’s still out of the sniper’s line of sight. He loses his balance but still manages to shoot his enemy.  
Out of the corner of his eye Price sees the fourth enemy soldier pointing his weapon towards him. Just as the enemy is about to pull the trigger a shot rings out and the soldier is down on the ground with a hole in his head. Price turns and sees Nikto lowering his weapon. The Russian soldier scoffs at him and looks at him coldly.  
“You’re slowing us down. We’d have thought an SAS captain would be better than this.”  
Price grits his teeth and tries to hold back his anger. It’s like Nikto wants to start an argument; like the soldier tries to provoke Price into yelling at him. He doesn’t say anything though; he just focuses on trying to find a good angle to take out the sniper. He signals to Nikto to stay where he is and then tries to move around so the sniper won’t see him. He stays low all the time and he doesn’t think the sniper has been able to see him.  
After a while the captain lies down on his stomach behind a bush. The sniper is in his line of sight now and seems to be focusing on the spot where he first saw them.  
Price readies his rifle and points it towards the sniper’s head. He takes a breath and holds it as he steadies his rifle. He lets his finger meet the trigger and then the sniper is lying still on the roof with a hole in his head.

Price stands up and walks back towards Nikto. When he gets closer to the Russian soldier he notices that something is wrong. He’s just staring in front of him without really seeing anything.  
He’s blinking rapidly as if trying to ground himself. Price carefully approaches him.  
“Nikto? Can you hear me?”  
“Yeah, I think...” He blinks again and starts looking around himself, taking in his surroundings and seeing the dead bodies around them.  
“What..?”  
He seems confused and almost vulnerable in his current condition; his eyes darting from side to side while he tries to understand what’s happening.  
Price notices the way he starts to sway and is quickly by his side to steady him with a hand on his arm. “Easy. Let’s just sit down for a moment and I’ll tell you what’s happened, yeah?”  
He helps Nikto to sit down against one of the walls and then proceeds to sit down next to him.  
“What’s the last thing you remember?”  
“I don’t know...” Nikto looks down at his hands before continuing. “I remember taking down the soldiers in the forest. After that...” He shakes his head and looks at Price. “I don’t remember anything else. I’m sorry.”  
“It’s okay, I’ll fill you in. We ran into some enemies, as you can see...” Price nods towards the bodies lying on the ground. He turns back towards Nikto again.  
“When we were in the forest...” Price tries to choose his words carefully.  
“You seemed to change somehow. You weren’t yourself.”  
Nikto looks away from him. “I know I shouldn’t be like that. I just... I can’t control it.”  
He then proceeds to look at Price and the captain can see fear and shame in his eyes.  
“What was I like?”  
Price thinks for quite some time before answering. He tries to be as gentle about it as he can.  
“You were quite cold. I have to say I prefer you as you are now; but that identity of yours saved my life, so I guess I can’t complain too much.”  
“I’m sorry.”  
Price chuckles at that. “What, for saving my life?”  
Nikto shakes his head. “No, I mean...” He goes quiet again before standing up. “We should get going; we’ve got to find the others.”  
It’s obvious that he doesn’t want to talk anymore about it, so Price accepts that and lets it go.  
Besides; Nikto does have a point. They need to find their friends as soon as possible and they can’t waste any time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wanted to focus a bit on Nikto's disorder in this fic, so here we go! The identity that comes out in this chapter isn't supposed to be mean or evil or anything like that. He just has a lot of pain and anger within him because of the traumas he's been through :( My headcanon is that he's got more identities/alters as well.
> 
> As always, comments make me really happy :D


	4. Chapter 4

They walk in silence over the bridge that will lead them to Block 18. Suddenly Price is stopped by a hand on his arm as Nikto whispers to him.  
“Movement up ahead.”  
Looking carefully the captain can see a shadow moving behind one of the buildings. He holds on to his rifle and watches carefully as the person steps out into the open.

It’s Simon Riley. Price would recognize him anywhere. Behind him are Gaz and Otter. Price lets out a breath he didn’t know he had been holding. They are all alive and he can’t see any serious injuries on either of them. Ghost turns his head and raises his weapon upon seeing Price and Nikto.   
Price immediately lowers his rifle and puts his arms above his head.  
“Blue!” He says.  
Ghost lowers his weapon again and Gaz steps out from behind him with a sigh of relief.  
“Boss! Are you alright?”  
The captain nods. “I’m fine. What about you?”  
“We’re good.”  
Ghost narrows his eyes as he takes in the soldier standing next to Price.  
“What’s he doing with you?”  
Looking to his right Price can see Nikto tense up. He puts up a hand to calm him down and then turns back to Ghost.  
“You can trust him. Look, why don’t we move inside one of the buildings? It’s much safer than standing out in the open.”

Once inside Price begins to explain what’s happened.  
“Nikto got separated from his team as well. He helped me find you; we owe him.”  
At his words he notices how his team looks nervous. He’s about to ask why when Gaz turns to Nikto.  
“Were the Bale twins in your team?”  
“Yes! Have you seen them? Was it only the twins you saw?” Price can hear the worry in the Russian’s voice. He notices the way Ghost and Gaz are looking nervously at each other. This can’t be good.  
“There was a third one with them. Much younger.”  
“Rodion I think his name is. I’ve worked with him once. Talks way too much. Especially about movies.” Otter interrupts Ghost with this information and Nikto nods.  
“That sounds like him. Where are they? Are they okay?”

“We kind of ran into them, east of the lumberyard. Both teams started shooting at each other. I think Rodion might have been hit, but I’m not sure... They went north after that. I’m sorry.”  
Ghost looks at Price; the guilt is evident in his eyes. The captain feels for him, it’s obvious that he regrets what happened.  
Nikto just walks closer to the Coalition soldiers; hands balled into fists.  
“Who fired the first shot? You or them?”  
“Calm down, Nikto.” Price puts a hand on his arm; he can sense the rage within the Spetsnaz operator and tries to calm him before he starts a fight. Nikto just shrugs him off.  
“The hell I will! I won’t ask again. Who fired first?” He’s met with silence first as the others look at each other. Then Otter takes a step forward and clears his throat. “We fired first. I fired the first shot.” The corporal has always been the type to shoot first and ask questions later. Price isn’t surprised at all that he fired the first shot. What does surprise him though is the guilt that can be seen in the young soldier’s eyes.  
Nikto lunges at Otter the second he hears the corporal’s answer. Price has seen this coming and is quick to grab Nikto’s arm and pull him away from Otter.   
“Hey! Pull yourself together soldier! You said it yourself; we don’t know who to trust at the moment. It’s kill or be killed out here; if you aren’t quick enough to pull the trigger you just might end up dead. They saw soldiers pointing their weapons against them and they reacted. Could have been the other way around.”  
Nikto pulls away from Price and mutters some Russian expletives. At least he doesn’t seem like he’s going to try to punch anyone, so Price considers that a win. The Russian soldier starts to walk away from the others and Gaz looks like he’s about to try to reason with him. Price holds up his hand and stops him.  
“Just leave him be. Let him cool down for a minute first.” He looks over at Nikto who has now sat down in the corner of the room. Price turns back to the others.  
“I meant what I said; I owe him. He saved my life out there, so I’ll do what I can to help him find his team.”  
Gaz nods. “We’ll do everything we can to help him. Does any of your comms still work? Ours doesn’t.”  
Price shakes his head. “No, they don’t. Zakhaev must have planned this all along. He pushed our teams into each other’s paths. He probably was hoping for you to start shooting at each other. It would save him the trouble.”  
“And we walked straight into his trap.” Ghost looks like he’s berating himself over it.  
“Don’t beat yourself up. What’s done is done and the important thing now is that we work together and find the Allegiance soldiers before anything happens to them.”  
At that Gaz turns his head to look at Nikto who’s sitting with his back toward the wall on the other side of the room.  
“Captain, do you really think he’s going to want to work with us after what we did?”  
“Yes. He’s smart and he knows he’s got a better chance of finding them if he’s with us.”  
The captain clears his throat and continues: “It’s going to get dark soon so our search will have to wait ’til tomorrow. We’ll stay here for the night.”

After that he carefully approaches Nikto.  
“Okay if I sit with you for a while?”  
The Spetsnaz soldier just gives a short nod so Price sits down next to him.  
“We’ll do what we can to help you find your team. We’ve got to stick together if we want to find them. Us fighting each other isn’t gonna help and it’s exactly what Zakhaev wants. By arguing we’re all just playing straight into the enemy’s hands.”   
“I know, I just...” Nikto shakes his head. “I can’t believe I did exactly what he wants. He shouldn’t be able to control me like this.”  
Price can see the pain and self-hatred in the Russian’s eyes.  
His torture at the hands of Zakhaev has really left its mark. Something tells the Captain that Nikto’s mental scars are much worse than his physical ones. Then there’s the fact that he’s got an identity disorder. Price hadn’t known much about that type of disorder before; but he’d done a lot of research after he’d found out that Nikto had it. The disorder is always a result of childhood trauma.  
Meaning that the torture the Spetsnaz soldier had been put through was far from the only trauma in his life.  
Price puts his hand on Nikto’s shoulder and gives it a gentle squeeze.  
“If it’s any help it isn’t just you. We’re all pawns in his game for the moment. Bastard knows exactly which strings to pull.”  
Nikto nods. “We’ll just have to change that. We’ll work together; even after we’ve found the others. That’s our only chance of beating him.”  
“It won’t be easy though; no one knows who to trust at the moment. But we’ll make it work. We have the same enemy after all. That should count for something.”  
He sees the blood on Nikto’s jacket and is reminded of his wound.  
“Would you let me take a look at that? We don’t want it to get infected.”  
Nikto nods and holds his jacket and shirt up so that Price can see the wound better. It isn’t deep but it’s going to need cleaning. Price helps him tend to his wound as he sits with him.

When he’s done he takes out a cigar and a lighter.   
“D’ you smoke?”  
Nikto shakes his head. “I never have. Don’t want to start now either. I don’t mind you smoking though.”  
“Good.”  
He lights the cigar and together they sit like that for a while.  
“We’ll stay here for the night; it’s getting to dark too start searching now. We’ll begin to look for your friends first thing tomorrow morning.”   
“I just hope they’re okay. I know they can take care of themselves, but if Rodion’s badly injured...”  
Nikto doesn’t finish the sentence but he doesn’t have to.  
“We don’t know that yet. Let’s take it one step at a time, eh? We’ll do everything we can to help you find them.”  
“Thank you.”  
“I’ll go back to the others now; you can join me or you can stay here. Your choice.”  
Nikto thinks for a while. “I think I’ll stay here. At least for a while.”  
“Not much of a people person?”  
The Russian chuckles at the question. “Not really.”

When Price makes it over to the others Ghost looks at him immediately.  
“How is he?”  
Price looks over to Nikto who’s still sitting against the wall.  
“He’s okay. Worried about his friends, but he’s prepared to work with us.”  
“Good.”

When night comes by they agree on taking turns watching for enemies. Everything is quiet during Price’s shift, giving him the time to think about the situation they’re in. Their comms aren’t working at all so they have no way of reporting back to base. Then there’s the fact that Zakhaev’s men and Al Qatala are probably looking for them. Things are going to be though, but like he said to Nikto; they’re just going to have to take one step at a time.

His shift ends and Price goes to shake Otter awake. The young corporal rises to his feet with a yawn.  
“Things go okay?”  
Price nods. “Everything’s been quiet. Stay on your guard though; you never know.”  
“I will.”  
“Good.” He claps Otter on the shoulder before he turns to walk away.  
“Captain?”  
Price turns around at that. Otters voice is wary and much softer than usual.  
“What is it, corporal?”  
“I didn’t mean to start a fight with them back there... I hope you know that. I didn’t want Rodion to get shot. I don’t like him; the tosser talks way too much, but I didn’t want to hurt him.”  
Price gently smiles at him when he hears those words. He knew the soldier did have a heart somewhere under that though exterior, but it isn’t often he actually shows it.  
“I know, Otter. One piece of advice though? Do not let Nikto hear you referring to his comrade as a tosser. That is one fist fight I do not want to see.”  
“I could take him.”  
Price chuckles at that. “Maybe, maybe not. I still don’t want to find that out, okay?”  
“Fine. Goodnight captain.”  
“Goodnight Otter.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Team Coalition is finally reunited! :D I have to say I loved writing the interaction between Otter and Price.   
> Comment and let me know what you think :)


	5. Chapter 5

It’s almost morning when Ghost frantically wakes Price from his sleep.  
“Enemy movement outside.”  
Price practically flies up and picks up his weapon when he hears what the lieutenant whispers. “Do they know we are here?”  
“Don’t think so. Better be prepared though.”  
The Captain nods. “You go wake the others; I’ll stand guard.”  
He walks over to stand by the door. He can hear talking outside of the building. Arabic; it must be Al Qatala. He dares to peek out of the window and he sees them. Three armed men.  
There’s a risk that there are more enemy soldiers in the area though. They’ll have to stay quiet and just hope the enemies pass by.

He turns his head and sees Gaz carefully approaching him.  
“Shall we take them out?”  
Price shakes his head. “There might be more soldiers around. Let’s just wait and hopefully they will pass, yeah?”  
They stand like that for a while; holding their breath and just waiting. The enemy patrol eventually walks away from the area and things calm down.

Price turns to look at the others.  
“They seem to have left. We still have to keep away from the windows and talk quietly. There’s no point in going back to sleep; it’s almost morning anyway.”  
Ghost nods. “We should use this time to discuss where to search for the Allegiance team.”  
He turns to Nikto. “You know them best, where do you think they would go?”  
“That depends on how badly injured Rodion is. If it’s serious then...”  
The Russian swallows and continues.  
“If it’s serious they won’t have made it far, but otherwise they would have tried to put as much distance between themselves and you as possible. They might have moved north to the quarry in that case.”  
Price nods. “We’ll walk towards the quarry then. But we’ll have to check every building on our way there. If Rodion is seriously injured it’s crucial that we find them as soon as possible. We’ll be on the move soon. Prepare to leave.”

As everyone prepares for the search Price makes his way over to where Nikto is standing.  
“You ready?”  
Nikto nods. “Yes. I just hope we’ll find them.”  
“We will.” Price pats him on the back before checking on the others.

When they are all ready they move out. Price and Nikto take the lead; when they find the Allegiance team it’s best if Nikto is the one they see first.  
Together they move through Bloc 18, checking every building for any trace of the operators.  
They also have to keep an out for enemies; they did see a patrol pass the area earlier after all.

After a while they make it to the fire station in the north part of the bloc. The station is empty but Gaz still finds something.  
“Boss? You’d better take a look at this.”  
Price moves to his side immediately and spots what Gaz is referring to.  
Blood. It’s not a dangerous amount of blood, but there’s still a lot. He hears footsteps behind him and sees Nikto coming towards him. The Russian swears as soon as he sees the blood.  
Price puts a hand on his arm. “We don’t even know if it’s theirs. It could be someone else’s.”  
He doesn’t believe the words himself but still tries to calm Nikto.  
The Russian just looks at the blood for a while before saying anything.  
“There’s a small farm south of the quarry. They might stop there for a while. If that’s Rodion’s blood then... Even if the injury isn’t life threatening it’s still not a minor injury. Not with that amount of blood. The quarry might be too far for them.”  
Price nods at that. “We’ll check it out.”

They move out of the fire station and follow the road.  
In front of them is the bridge that will take them out of Bloc 18. They move carefully, there isn’t much cover around here. They do have some trees to their left though. 

Suddenly they hear voices speaking in Russian close by and Price holds up his hand to signal for them all to stop.  
“That’s not them, is it? It doesn’t sound like them?”  
Ghost looks at Nikto as he asks the question. The spetsnaz soldier shakes his head.  
“No. This isn’t them at all.”  
Only a few seconds later another Russian voice rings out. The owner of the voice seems to be barking orders at the others.  
Price notices the way Nikto tenses up as he hears the voice. Judging by his reaction the captain can guess who the voice belongs to.  
“It’s him isn’t it? Zakhaev.”  
Nikto doesn’t say anything but just nods.  
“Fuckin’ hell.” Otter swears from behind them.

They all make sure they’re standing behind the trees for cover. Price knows it isn’t enough though. They can still be seen if their enemies look this way. There’s an abandoned bus parked to the side of the bridge. It’s not far from where they are; maybe they can make it there. It will make for better cover than the trees.

He barely has the chance to finish that thought before they are noticed by the enemy.  
They have no choice now.  
“Go! Get behind that bus now, I’ll cover you!”  
After that everything is like a blur. Shots ring out and he can see the others sprint towards the bus.  
He peeks out from his cover and shoots at his enemies. The bullet hits one of them in the chest.  
Good. He manages to take down two more foes before a grenade is thrown towards him.  
He scrambles to get out of the way as fast as he can.

The grenade knocks him off his feet and he hits the ground hard. He lands on the hip he injured yesterday and pain spikes through it. He also hits his head on the ground and he can feel the blood on his temple. The world is spinning but he has to get up; he can see the enemies closing in.  
He hears Ghost yelling his name as he struggles to get to his feet.  
Out of the corner of his eye he can see someone’s legs as the person shoots at their enemies.  
Price looks up and sees the mask covering the person’s face. It’s Nikto.  
The Spetsnaz soldier buys him enough time so that he can get back up.  
He picks up his rifle and manages to shoot another enemy. He can spot Zakhaev now; the Russian is aiming for them but makes sure to keep a wall of his men in front of him. Coward.

Price turns his head and sees Gaz, Otter and Ghost who have made it to safety behind the bus.  
They peek out from their cover from time to time to shoot at the enemies that are steadily closing in on them.

Things are not looking good at all. Price can see how Nikto is constantly trying to aim for Zakhaev but only misses. The Russian loads his rifle and once again shoots at Zakhaev. This time he hits his target and Zakhaev lets out a scream of pain as Nikto’s bullet hits his right knee.

Zakhaev, being the coward that he is, manages to flee from the battle with the help from two of his men. The rest of their enemies just seem to get more intent on destroying them as they close in on them even more.

Just when it seems like they might lose this fight another shot rings out and one of the enemies falls down. More shots follow from the same direction and the enemies eventually scatter and flee.  
Price looks toward where the shots came from; on the other side of the bridge stands a single soldier. The man wears a balaclava that covers most of his face except for his eyes. Like Nikto he’s got Allegiance markings on his jacket.  
“I guess that’s one of yours?” Price turns to Nikto.  
“Yes. It’s Bale.” The relief is evident in his voice.  
“Good. Let’s go towards him. You take the lead.”

Nikto makes his way over the bridge towards his comrade. Bale seems to recognize him immediately because he lowers his weapon and lets out a sigh of relief.  
“Nikto! We were worried about you.”  
“I’m fine. Where are the others?”  
“We’re here.” Another soldier, most likely Bale’s twin, steps out from behind a wall. He’s got his arm tightly around the waist of a much younger man. Rodion, Price thinks.  
Rodion’s left shoulder and arm are covered in blood and the young soldier looks quite pale.  
Minotaur’s eyes turn to the SAS soldiers standing behind Nikto.  
“Why are you with them? They shot at us!”  
Bale holds up a hand to calm down his brother.  
“Let him explain.”  
“I know what’s happened, they told me. But we can trust them and we need their help. I wouldn’t have found you if it weren’t for them.”  
Bale nods at Nikto’s explanation. The others do not seem convinced though and Rodion speaks up.  
“Tell that to my shoulder! They could have killed me.”  
Price decides to step in before the argument becomes any worse.  
“But you fired at them too, didn’t you?”  
“They started it!” Minotaur raises his voice and points at the soldiers standing behind Price.  
Bale rolls his eyes at his brother. “Now you sound like a child”

Price almost chuckles at that. The argument calms down a little and Nikto walks up to Bale; standing close to him and saying something in a low voice. Bale leans closer to him and keeps a hand on Nikto’s back during the conversation. After a while Bale makes his way over to Price; holding out his hand for the captain to take.  
“I’m staff sergeant Dmitry Bale.”  
Price shakes his hand. “Captain John Price. I want to thank for your help with Zakhaev’s men. I’m also sorry about what happened earlier. Is Rodion gonna be alright?”  
The staff sergeant looks over his shoulder to where his comrades are standing. Nikto is speaking softly to Rodion and Minotaur still has his arm around the younger soldier’s waist.  
“The bullet hit his shoulder and there’s an exit wound. The primary concern is infection, but we’ve cleaned and bandaged it as well as we can. He’s going to need better care than that, but it’s all we can do at the moment.”  
“Are your comms working? Ours aren’t so we can’t contact anyone.”  
Bale looks grim. “Our comms are completely dead. Rodion’s injured and we’ve got to abort the mission and return to base. Problem is we can’t reach out to anyone.”  
“We’ll help you figure something out. If Coalition and Allegiance can work together again we might have a chance of defeating Zakhaev and Al Qatala. First priority is to get us all out of here safely. We’ll work together in this, if that’s okay with you?” Price asks Bale who nods.  
“We’ll need all the help we can get. Thank you.”  
The captain nods and pats him on the arm.  
“That’s settled then. We’ll move inside and talk more. Zakhaev and his men are still out there.”

They all move inside one of the farmhouses. As soon as they are inside Minotaur gently helps Rodion sit down on the floor. Price looks at the young soldier with concern in his eyes.  
The wound might be bandaged but Rodion is pale. Way to pale. He reminds himself to check for a fever once they’ve discussed what to do next.

“So Zakhaev managed to escape then?”  
“Yes. He did get shot though, so it will slow him down. Nikto shot him in the knee.”  
Price answers Bale’s question and the staff sergeant looks at Nikto after that. The masked man is just staring down at the floor with pain in his eyes. Price notices the concerned look on Bale’s face as he turns back to the SAS captain.  
“We’ll need to contact the base as soon as possible; Rodion’s going to need help.”  
Price nods. “He looks quite pale; it wouldn’t surprise me if he has a fever.”  
“The military base is close; but the enemy might be guarding it. They most likely know we are still here and there are more of them than us.”  
“It’s not going to be easy, but we’ll work it out. Let’s stay here for a while; lay low and then we’ll see.” Price tries to sound confident but it’s far from an easy situation they’re in. At least both teams have been reunited.  
Bale nods at him before turning to look at Nikto who stands a few metres away from them. He’s still looking at the floor without really seeing; he doesn’t seem to be aware of anything around him.  
“Nikto?” Bale approaches him carefully. He doesn’t get much of a reaction, but Nikto blinks a bit and looks up at him.  
Bale puts his arm around his friend. “Come on; let’s go over there, yeah? I’ve got you, you’re okay.”  
His tone is soft and soothing as he gently leads Nikto away from the others so that they can talk without anyone overhearing.  
Price is concerned about Nikto but Bale seems to be handling it so he walks over to Ghost who is standing by one of the windows; keeping an eye out for enemies. 

“How does it look?”  
“It’s quiet for the moment; but they’re out there just waiting for our next move.”  
“We’ll lay low for a while but we’ll think of something. Keep watch; I’ll be over there to check on Rodion for a while.”  
Ghost nods and Price is just about to walk over to Rodion when he hears Gaz’ voice.  
“Boss? Has anyone taken a look at your head yet? You’re still bleeding.”  
Price reaches up with his right hand to carefully touch the wound. It’s not bleeding much but there’s still fresh blood on his hand when he takes it away.  
“I’ll check on Rodion first, then you can take a look at it, okay?”  
Gaz looks like he’s about to protest but then bites his tongue.  
“Fine.”  
Price pats him on the shoulder before walking over to where Rodion is sitting with Minotaur next to him.

“How are you holding up lad?” He crouches down next to Rodion so that he can look at him more clearly. The young man is pale and his forehead is glistening with sweat. He’s got Minotaur’s jacket around his shoulders but still seems to be shivering. This does not look good.  
“I’m cold. Think I’ve got a fever.” Rodion sounds tired as he speaks and Minotaur gently squeezes his shoulder; the older man hasn’t left Rodion’s side even for a second.  
“I think so too. Can I check for a temperature?”  
Rodion just nods at the question and Price takes his glove off before reaching out to put his hand on the younger soldier’s forehead.  
The man definitely has a fever. It’s not that high, but if this is because of an infection it will only get worse if he doesn’t get any antibiotics.  
“I do have a fever, don’t I?” Rodion’s question brings Price out of his thoughts.  
“Yes. It doesn’t seem high though.”  
“For now. I’m really cold. That means the fever is rising.”  
“Just hang in there lad. We’ll get you out of here.”  
Rodion nods and Price pats his arm before turning to look at Minotaur.  
“Look after him, okay?”  
“Always.” Minotaur puts his arm around the younger soldier and Price walks over to the others.  
Rodion’s in good hands and they’ll have to figure out a way to get out of here.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, a lot of drama but they're all reunited! :D I love writing all the Spetsnaz operators, so this was fun to write.  
> The game has referred to Bale as a captain once (In Minotaur's short description), but in the longer files about both Minotaur and Bale that can be found in spec ops, it says he is a staff sergeant. So in my story he's a staff sergeant. Don't know what he's actually supposed to be since the game can't make up its mind. 
> 
> If you've read this please comment. Comments make my day and also help me improve my writing :)


	6. Chapter 6

Price makes his way back to where Gaz and Ghost are standing. The sergeant looks up at him.  
“Can I take a look at your wound now?”  
“Yes, you can.” Price turns to Ghost while Gaz takes care of the wound on his temple.  
“Any movement?”  
“Yes. Most of them seem to be to the south of us, but Otter spotted some enemy movement by the quarry.” Ghost nods towards where Otter is standing by one of the windows at the other side of the house they’re in.  
This is not good, Price thinks. The situation they’re in is far from ideal and they’ve got an injured person with them.

Then there’s the fact that Zakhaev is close by and most likely on the warpath after being shot.  
He might be too much of a coward to go after them himself in his current condition, but he’s going to send all his men after them.

Price looks over to where Bale and Nikto are standing on the other side of the room.  
They’re standing close together and Bale has his arm protectively around Nikto’s shoulders.  
The masked man seems to be doing a little better but it’s obvious that seeing Zakhaev again brought back a lot of painful memories.  
Bale gives him a pat on the back before the two Spetsnaz soldiers walk back to the others.  
Nikto immediately moves over to where Minotaur and Rodion are sitting and sits down next to the younger soldier.

Bale walks over to Price.   
“How does it look?”  
“There’s enemy movement by the quarry. Most of them seem to be to the south of our position though.”  
Bale looks grim. “So they’re spreading out. They will have us surrounded soon and we are outnumbered.”  
“We need to come up with a plan. Let’s start with gathering everyone; check the equipment we have and then we’ll talk it through.”  
Bale nods. “Sounds good.”

He walks over to his fellow comrades and Price turns to look at the SAS operators.   
“Come over here, we need to talk.”  
Ghost nods and walks over to Price followed by Gaz and Otter.

Then the Spetsnaz unit joins them; Rodion is still pale and in obvious pain. The concern is clear in Bale’s eyes as he takes in the condition of his youngest squad member.

Together they all gather around a table in the middle of the room and Price clears his throat.  
“We need to start with going through our equipment; we’re going to need as much as possible. Does anyone have any tacticals left?”  
Gaz shakes his head. “I only had flashbangs and I’ve used them I’m afraid.”  
“I found this on an Al Qatala soldier by the lumber yard. I figured it might be worth checking if the wanker had something we could use. I’ve been saving it.”  
Otter picks up a decoy grenade and carefully puts it down on the table.  
“Good thinking lad.” Price praises him and claps him on the arm.

The captain then turns to the others. “Anyone else?”  
“I’ve got two smoke grenades. It’s not much but it’s something at least.”  
Minotaur puts the smoke grenades down on the table as well and Price nods.  
“Good. Like I said; we’re going to need everything we can get.”

They don’t have any other tacticals and no one has any lethal equipment left. At least they’ve got enough ammunition for the moment.

Price turns to look at Rodion who’s standing between Minotaur and Nikto.  
“Can you fight?”  
The young soldier meets his eyes with a determined look.  
“Yes. My left arm is completely useless, but I can hold a pistol in my right hand.”  
Price nods. “Now we’ve just got to figure out how to get away from here and also where to go.”

Bale takes out a map of Verdansk and puts it on the table so everyone can see.  
“We’re here now.” He points at Karst farm on the map.  
“We are going to need to get to a place where there are working comms. The military base is relatively close and then there’s the airport. The comms tower there should work.”  
He raises his gaze from the map to look at the others.  
“We could use the subway to get there, but we still have to walk a while to get to the nearest station.  
The enemies will be everywhere.”

Price nods and furrows his brow.   
“They probably know that’s our most likely way to go right now. We don’t have much of a choice though. I’d say the airport might be our safest bet for the moment.”  
He turns to look at the others.   
“Can we all agree on that?”  
“Yes. It’s not going to be easy though.” Ghost speaks up from where he’s standing next to Price.  
“Where’s the fun in that? Let’s get out there and shoot the fuckers.”  
The captain holds his hand up to calm Otter’s enthusiasm.   
“We’ll have to plan this properly before we can start shooting at anyone. What about using the decoy grenade first? We’ll throw it south west of our position, then we go west. It might distract them for a few seconds anyway.”  
Bale nods at his suggestion.   
“Sounds good. Then we’ll use the smoke grenades when we feel we need them. We’ll stick together but not too close. If all eight of us walk closely together we are easy targets for RPGs.”

When they are all satisfied with the plan they prepare to move out. Rodion’s bandage has to be changed first and they need to check his wound so Bale goes over to help him.  
In the meantime Ghost turns to Price.

“Are you sure we can trust them? They used to be our enemies and besides, we shot at them. What if they’re going to want revenge?”  
The captain just shakes his head. “Just like I said about Nikto before: they’re smart. They won’t make it out of this alone. They know that. There are four of us and four of them; only they have an injured person in their team. And they want to take down Zakhaev just as much as we do. Maybe even more.”  
His eyes slide over to where Nikto is sitting next to Rodion. The masked man has a hand on Rodion’s arm and softly speaks to him while Bale is cleaning his wound.

Ghost seems to notice who Price is looking at.  
“You’re thinking of Nikto I take it?”  
Price nods. “He loathes Zakhaev more than anyone else because of what that monster put him through. And like I said; Nikto saved my life before. I trust him and the rest of them seem like good men.”  
When Ghost still seems hesitant the captain nods his head towards the Spetsnaz soldiers.  
“Look at them. They wouldn’t let Rodion die. Right now they need us. Trust me on this.”  
Price sees how Ghost studies the Russians for some time while thinking about what his captain just said.

Bale is carefully cleaning Rodion’s wound and Nikto is sitting next to the young soldier’s other side with a concerned look on his face. Minotaur is crouched down in front of them and seems to joke to try and distract Rodion from his pain. It’s obvious how close they are and Price hopes that Ghost sees what he sees; a loyal group of soldiers who are willing to do everything they can to get their youngest member out of there alive.

Ghost slowly nods after a while. “I see what you mean. It’s just... It’s hard knowing who to trust these days.”   
Price pats his arm. “I know. It’s not an easy situation we’re in, but we’ll figure it out.”

With that he decides to go and check on Rodion.  
When the captain makes it over there Bale has just begun wrapping a clean bandage around the wound. He looks up at the sound of footsteps.

“We’re done soon. Wound doesn’t look good and it’s definitely infected but there isn’t much we can do for the moment.”  
“You’re doing everything you can.” Price studies Rodion for a moment. “How are you feeling now, lad?”  
The young soldier shrugs and is painfully reminded of his injured shoulder. He hisses out of pain.  
“Easy.” Bale soothes him.  
“It hurts like hell and I’m really cold. I can still fight though. I won’t let you down.”  
At his last words Rodion looks at all his team members. Nikto squeezes his shoulder.  
“No one is worried about that.”  
Price nods his head in agreement. “That’s not what we’re worried about. Just don’t exert yourself to much, okay?”  
“I won’t.”  
“Okay, we’re done now.” Bale pats Rodion on the back once he’s finished with the bandage.   
“Good. Let’s gather round once again and then we’ll move out.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We've got some planning and some interactions in this chapter and then there will be more action in the next one.  
> As always, comments make me super happy and help me improve my writing! :D


	7. Chapter 7

“Okay, everyone ready?” Price looks at the others. They all have their weapons out; even Rodion who is clutching his pistol in his right hand. The young soldier looks pale but determined.  
“We’re all set.” Bale answers the captain’s question.

They are all standing outside the building now; backs pressed against the wall on the north side.  
Most of their enemies are to the south of their position and the ones who are by the quarry won’t be able to see them here. Not until they start to move. That’s when they’ll have to be quick.

“Good.” Price turns his head and looks at Otter who’s holding the decoy grenade.  
“Are you ready? Throw the decoy at my signal then we’ll move when the enemies are distracted.”  
“I’m ready. Let’s do this.”  
The captain nods and starts counting. “Three, two, one; throw it!”  
Otter throws the decoy as far as he can and after that they all run to the nearest cover.  
Price hears the sound of the decoy going off and he can hear their enemies move towards the sound.

The decoy works and buys them a few seconds; but they’re still outnumbered and it doesn’t take long before Zakhaev’s men spots their actual position and start firing at them.  
Price peeks out from his cover and shoots two of them.

“We need smoke!” He turns to Minotaur who nods.  
“I’m on it.” He throws the smoke grenade in front of them and they all use the smoke to move forward and also to spread out a little.

Price moves quickly through the fog and keeps his rifle with him.   
Since their enemies can’t see them through the smoke they’re not getting shot at for the moment.  
Zakhaev’s men are most likely saving their ammunition and don’t want to just shoot blindly.

The captain keeps moving and after a while the smoke settles. Looking around him he can see how the others have spread out a bit. They still stay close enough so they can see each other at all times.

Soon enough Zakhaev’s men spot them and start shooting again. Price shoots back and tries to stay behind cover as much as possible. He’s got Otter beside him and he can hear the corporal mutter swear words as he shoots at their enemies.

The shooting intensifies and for a moment there are bullets flying everywhere.  
Price barely knows where his teammates are; he only focuses on trying to keep the enemy at bay.

“Grenade!” Minotaur yells out a warning as a grenade is thrown towards them.  
Price turns his head and sees the piece of lethal equipment land close to where Nikto is standing.

The frag grenade explodes and Nikto gets caught in the blast. He isn’t standing dangerously close but it’s still enough to knock him to the ground as Zakhaev’s men closes in.

The enemies are aiming for the masked man just as a shot rings out and one of their foes drops dead.  
Price sees Rodion covering Ghost who runs forward to help Nikto up.  
The young Spetsnaz soldier might only be holding a pistol but his shots are precise and hit two of the enemies in the head and a third one right in the chest.   
Rodion buys Ghost the time to pull Nikto to his feet and hand him back his rifle.

As soon as he gets back up Nikto fires quickly at their foes and Ghost is standing by his side. Together they take out several men and Price focuses on the enemies coming from the other direction.  
They all cooperate and have each other’s backs as they move closer to their location.

Price can see the subway station now; they are so close.  
He lifts his rifle to fire at another enemy and the shot hits him in the chest. Price goes back to his cover. Turning his head to look at the others he sees that Rodion is panting now; the bandage around his left shoulder is slowly turning red.

This is not looking good and the enemies are still around them.  
It doesn’t seem to be any enemy movement near the subway station at least and they’re quite close. Price makes a quick decision and looks at Minotaur.  
“Throw a smoke and then we’ll move to the station as fast as we can.”

The Russian throws his smoke grenade and Price yells at them all to move.  
As soon as the smoke spreads out they begin to walk quickly; keeping their heads down.

Once the smoke has subsided they are just outside the station.  
Price turns to shoot at the enemies that are following them. 

“Get inside, now!”  
The captain shoots another shot before turning and running after the others.  
They make it down the stairs and Gaz looks at the time table.  
“30 seconds, boss.”  
Price nods and stands facing the stairs.  
“I’ll cover us as we wait.” He hears footsteps behind him as Bale move to stand next to him.  
“You’re not alone.”  
Price gives him a nod in thanks before turning back to check for enemies.

A few seconds go by until footsteps can be heard. Price readies his rifle and shoots as soon as he’s got the enemies in his sight. Bale backs him up and together they take out four of Zakhaev’s men before they hear the train arriving.

“We have to go!” Ghost calls out for them and they run towards the train.  
Price just manages to get in before the doors closes.  
He takes a look at the others who are all standing next to him. They’re all exhausted but no one seems to have gotten injured in the fight.

He turns to look at Rodion and takes in the bloodied bandage covering his left shoulder.  
The young man is even paler than before and his forehead is glistening with sweat. He’s still holding his pistol in his right hand and his left arm is just hanging there. It seems like he has problems even standing up right now. The exhaustion in his eyes is clear to see and Minotaur is holding up almost all of the younger soldier’s weight now. 

Price sees how Nikto is studying his friend with concern in his eyes.  
“How are you feeling?”  
“To be honest; I feel like shit. I probably overexerted myself there, didn’t I?”  
“You think?” Minotaur mutters and rolls his eyes but still keeps his arm supportively around Rodion’s waist.

The young soldier laughs weakly before putting his head on Minotaur’s shoulder.  
“You’re gonna be alright kid; just hold on.”  
Minotaur tightens his grip on Rodion’s waist as he speaks.

Price can feel the concern radiating from all of Rodion’s comrades. He just prays that they can get Rodion the help he needs before it’s too late.

The train comes to a halt and they all move out. Price and Bale takes the lead; rifles ready as they take in their surroundings and listen to every sound. They make sure everyone are with them as the move up the stairs. 

When they make it to the top of the stairs they find themselves just outside the airport terminal.  
There’s debris all around them and the roof to the terminal has got a hole right through it.

Price looks around and can’t see any enemies though; so they all move inside the terminal.  
They all move silently; checking every corner as they walk through the building.

They make it to the windows and Bale holds up his hand; signalling to the others to stop.  
Price immediately notices what the the staff sergeant has seen.  
“Enemy movement outside.” He pulls out his binoculars to see easier. Three men with AK-47’s can be seen on the runway and another man is patrolling near the control tower.  
“Four of them in total. Let’s take them all out at once with suppressed weapons and they won’t notice we’re here.”  
Bale nods and holds up his rifle. “I’ll help you.”

Otter is quick to offer his help. “I’ll help as well. Always happy to shoot some fuckers.”  
Price just chuckles at that. The corporal has always been a bit too enthusiastic about killing; but he’s a good and capable soldier.

Nikto offers to help as well and the four of them finds a good position to shoot from.  
Price crouches down and aims for the man who’s patrolling outside the tower.

“We’ll shoot at three. One, two, three!” At his signal they all pull the trigger and the four enemies drop down dead. The coast seems to be clear; for now.

He lowers his rifle and looks at the others. “Good job. Let’s move to the tower; keep an eye out for more enemies.”

Bale gives a short nod and together they all move out of the terminal. The group walks past the destroyed plane that was supposed to evacuate the civilians out of Verdansk. One of the plane’s wings is completely broken off; pieces of it scattered on the ground.

They reach the tower and Price opens the door while Bale’s got his rifle ready in case anyone’s inside waiting for them. There’s no one there and once inside Price starts scanning the area. There’s no stairs; only an empty elevator shaft. Two doors lead into the tower; they are going to have to guard both.

“Most of us are going to have to stay down here; all of us can’t ascend up those wires.”  
Price turns around at the sound of the voice and sees Nikto studying the wires in the elevator shaft.

“You’re right. Bale and I will go up; the rest of you stay down here. Stand at least two persons by each door.” The captain then turns to Rodion. “Sit down for a while lad; get some rest while you can.”

Rodion nods and slowly sits down with Minotaur’s help. Otter and Ghost move to stand by one of the doors while Nikto and Gaz guard the other.

Price and Bale ascends up the elevator wires to the top of the tower. There are control panels around the room and they have a great view from up here. While Bale checks for working comms Price takes out his binoculars to scan for enemy activity outside. There’s no movement by the airport right now.  
Good, he thinks.

“I found something!” Bale holds up a radio in his hand; it seems to be working.  
“Good. Try it.” Price turns back to look outside for a few minutes. He can hear Bale getting a response over the radio; the relief in the staff sergeant’s voice is evident.

When Bale is done speaking he walks over to Price and hands him the radio.  
“It’s all yours. Base said they can send us a helo; but the LZ is down by the kart racing track.”  
The staff sergeant looks grim as he continues:   
“It’s far from here and Rodion needs help now. At least we’ve finally managed to contact them; that’s a step in the right direction I guess.”

Price can see the concern in Bale’s eyes and reaches out to put a reassuring hand on his arm.  
“We’ll help you figure this out, yeah?”  
“Thank you.”

Price walks over to the other side of the room as he speaks through the radio.  
“Coalition actual, this is Bravo 0-6, do you read me? Over.”  
“I read you Bravo six. There’s been radio silence for a while, what’s your status? Over.”  
Price sighs with relief as soon as he hears Laswell’s voice.  
“We had to abort the mission. We’re with an Allegiance team and one of their soldiers is injured.   
We’ll help them to their LZ and then we are going to need to get out of here.”  
“Negative soldier, it’s too risky. We need to get you out of there safely as quickly as possible.”  
“We’re not leaving them behind. We’ll help them evacuate their injured soldier and then we’ll move to our extraction point. Their LZ is by the kart track; we’ll help them get there before evacuating. If we help them now they might work with us in the future. They could be good allies. Over.”  
“Are you sure they can be trusted?”  
“Yes. Trust me on this. Over.”  
“Fine. We can get you a helo by the train station. Just tell us when. Over.”

When he is done Price looks over his shoulder to see Bale who’s watching him intently.  
“I heard what you said; you don’t need to do that.”  
Price just shrugs.  
“You’ve helped us, we’ll help you. Besides we’re going to need all the allies we can get. If we help you get out of here will you agree to work with us in the future?”  
“Always, you can count on that.”  
“Good. Let’s move back to the others, then.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally this chapter is out! I'm sorry for the wait, this took me a long time to write for some reason. I struggle with writing action scenes I think. Angst and hurt/comfort are my favourite genres to write, but I'm trying to challenge myself sometimes since i want to improve my writing.  
> Hope you like it, comments make me super happy as always! :D


	8. Chapter 8

Once Price and Bale have reunited with the others they all decide that they need to find a place to rest for a few hours. They are all tired and Rodion is exhausted to the point of almost passing out.  
The infection in his system is only getting worse; especially when he exerts himself as much as he’s been doing.

The group of soldiers make it over to the apartment buildings that are close to the airport.  
It takes them awhile to get there; they’re moving slowly and checking every corner to not alert any enemies. 

They do get there without any trouble though and Price opens one of the doors and steps inside to look around. The hallway is completely empty and he steps inside one of the small apartments and checks it out. It’s completely abandoned but there are furniture and everything.

He motions for the others to follow him inside and Ghost closes the door behind them as soon as they’re all inside.

The Spetsnaz soldiers gently help Rodion sit down on the floor so that he’s leaning against the wall.  
“We need to change the bandage again; the wound is bleeding.” Bale turns towards Minotaur and Nikto who are also crouched down next to Rodion.  
“I’ll deal with this; can you two go through how much ammunition we have left? Also check the apartment for anything that can be useful.”

“On it.” Nikto lingers for a while with a concerned look in his eyes before following Minotaur.  
“We should probably check our ammunition as well. Don’t think there’s much left unfortunately.”  
Price nods as he looks at his lieutenant. “Do that. I’ll help cleaning Rodion’s wound.”  
Ghost walks away with Gaz and Otter while Price turns back to Bale and Rodion.

He sees how Rodion lifts his right arm to grab hold of Bale’s jacket.  
“Bale...” The young soldier swallows thickly. He’s struggling to keep his eyes open as he looks at his leader.  
“I’m sorry for this. I’m just giving you guys trouble am I?”  
The staff sergeant shakes his head. “No. This is not your fault.”  
Rodion looks at him out of tired eyes.  
“You’ll have to leave me here. You’re never going to make it otherwise. I’m slowing you down and the enemies are going to catch up. Just leave me.”  
“No. We’re not leaving.” Bale reaches out with his hand to stroke some of the younger man’s hair back from his forehead.  
“We are not leaving ‘cause you would never leave us behind. We’ve got this okay? Trust me.”  
Rodion nods. “I trust you.” He gives his leader a weak smile before closing his eyes.

Bale pats his arm gently. Price can see the weariness and the concern in the staff sergeants eyes. He knows exactly what the man is feeling. Being a leader is never easy; you have to make tough decisions and stick by them. Then you have to try and be strong when all you want to do is break down and cry. By the look in Bale’s eyes the man is close to tears now.

Price clears his throat and Bale looks up at the sound.  
“Look, why don’t you sit down and maybe get something to eat? I’ll stay with Rodion and take a look at his wound.”

The staff sergeant just shakes his head. “I have to be there for him.”  
“And you have been. You should sit down. Maybe one of the others can help me out with this? I know you want to take care of him; but you’ve also got to take care of yourself.”

Bale hesitates for a moment before he nods and stands up.  
“Thank you. I’ll get Minotaur or Nikto to help you.”  
“Good.”  
Price watches him walk away and then turns back to Rodion. The young soldier still has his eyes close and the captain isn’t even sure if he’s awake or not. He puts his hand on Rodion’s good shoulder and gives it a gentle squeeze.  
“Hey, open your eyes lad. You can sleep when this is done, okay?”

Rodion opens his eyes just a little and nods wearily.  
Price gently smiles at him as he starts undoing the bandage around the younger man’s shoulder.  
This is the first time he actually takes a look at the wound and he now understands why Rodion‘s comrades are so concerned.

The area around the bullet hole is flaming red and there is puss coming out of the wound.  
The shoulder is swollen as well and it’s not looking good at all.  
Just as Price studies the wound he hears footsteps behind him and looks around to see Nikto who wears a concerned look as he approaches them.

“How does it look?”  
“Not good I’m afraid.” Price moves to the side a bit so Nikto can get a good look at the wound.  
The masked man shakes his head as he sees it.  
“It looks much worse than before.” He then studies Rodion’s face for a while and puts his hand to the young soldier’s forehead to feel for a temperature.  
“Fever’s higher too. How are you feeling?”  
“Like hell.” Rodion answers the question honestly. “The infection is spreading fast; it won’t be long before I won’t be able to walk.”

Nikto sits down on his right side and puts a soothing hand on his arm.  
“It’ll be alright. We’ll rest here a few hours and then we’ll move out again. We’ll carry you if we have to. You know how Minotaur never misses a chance to brag about his strength. He’ll be happy to carry you.”

Rodion smiles a bit at Nikto’s words but then the smile fades and he shakes his head.  
“I’m slowing you down. You don’t have the time to stop for me all the time.”  
“Don’t say that. We’ll make it. All of us.” Nikto is almost pleading with him now.

As Rodion opens his mouth again Price interrupts him. He can’t listen to this anymore.  
“Lad, you have to stop. You’re friends are doing everything they can; we all are. Leaving you behind is not an option; not for anyone of us. If it was one of your friends that were injured you would be doing everything you could to save them, right?”

“Of course I would! And I’m trying to save them now.”  
Rodion blinks and tears spill out of his eyes as he draws in a shaky breath.  
“I don’t want you to die because of me.”  
He’s looking at Nikto now and the masked man puts his arm around his waist and draws Rodion closer to him. He rests his head on top of the younger man’s head and closes his eyes.

Price waits and watches the scene in front of him. Nikto has brought his free hand up to gently stroke Rodion’s hair where the young soldier has his face pressed against Nikto’s shoulder as he silently cries.  
“It’s gonna be okay. We’ve got this.” Nikto tries to soothe Rodion as he holds him in his arms.

After a while Rodion straightens up and pulls away from Nikto as he wipes the tears from his eyes.  
He lets out a hiss as he accidentally moves his injured shoulder too much.

“You okay?” Nikto gently rubs his arm as Rodion breathes through the pain.  
“Yeah. Just moving hurts. Being still hurts too.” 

Price gives the young soldier a sympathetic smile.  
“This is going to hurt too, I’m afraid. Just try to sit as still as you can, yeah?”  
Rodion nods as the captain starts to gently clean the infected wound. The young soldier doesn’t make a sound as Price cleans his wound, but Rodion is holding on to Nikto’s arm hard enough to leave a bruise.

Once Price is done with the wound he lets Rodion know.  
“There, worst part is over. We’ll just get you another bandage now and then you can get some sleep.”  
Price looks over to where the others are standing.  
“Is there a bed somewhere he can sleep in?”

“There’s a bed over there.” Bale points at the bed from where he’s sitting on the floor with a protein bar in his hand. 

Minotaur has a completely different suggestion though.  
“There’s also a crib in this corner. Why don’t we put the kid there and a grown-up can have the bed?”

“Fuck off.” Rodion mutters weakly and gives Minotaur the finger.  
In the meantime Bale just shakes his head and glares at his brother.  
“You know if you don’t stop acting like a child all the time I’m going to put you in the crib.”

Minotaur glares back at him and Rodion laughs. It’s a weak and weary laugh but the sound of it makes the Bale twins stop glaring at each other only to softly smile at their comrade.

Price turns back to Rodion and bandages his shoulder. When he’s done he smiles at the young soldier.  
“All done. Why don’t you lie down and get some sleep?”  
Rodion nods. “I might need some help getting up first.”

“I’ll help you.” Nikto takes Rodion’s right arm and carefully helps him to his feet.  
They walk towards the bed and Price lifts the covers as Nikto helps Rodion lie down. The masked man then proceeds to gently tuck him in under the covers.  
“Try to get some sleep, okay?”  
Rodion blinks up at his friend. “Thank you.”  
“We’ll always be here for you, okay?” Nikto’s words are soft as he looks at his comrade and Rodion nods before closing his eyes and falling asleep.

Price and Nikto walk over to the others when Bale asks how Rodion is doing.  
“He asked us to leave him.” Nikto’s voice is shaking; almost as if the man is on the verge of crying.  
Bale sighs and looks down at the floor while his twin has a completely different reaction.  
He takes a step towards where Ghost, Gaz and Otter are standing closely together in one of the corners of the room.

“This is all your fault! The kid is dying because of you!” Minotaur’s eyes are shining with tears as he yells at the SAS operators. Bale steps in front of him and tries to call him down.  
“This isn’t helping Rodion at all. If anything you’re just making it worse by yelling at the only people that can help us.”

Minotaur looks like he’s going to say something else, but he holds his silence and walks away from the others a bit.  
Price can see Bale watching him as he leaves.  
“I’ll talk to him, don’t worry.” The leader then turns to Nikto.  
“Are you alright?”  
Nikto nods. “Yeah, I’m just worried.”  
“I know.” Bale pats his back before walking over to his brother. Minotaur is visibly crying now as he stands by the end of the bed and watches Rodion sleep. 

The bond between the Spetsnaz soldiers is obviously strong and Price just hopes that they can save Rodion’s life. In order to do that they must all work together and the captain understands why Minotaur is so upset but it’s exactly like Bale said: Being angry and blaming each other aren’t going to help Rodion. 

“Look, I just want to say that we’re really sorry about Rodion; I know that doesn’t make it okay or anything but... We’re gonna help you as much as we can, yeah?”  
Gaz’ voice brings Price out of his thoughts. The sergeant is nervously looking at Nikto with a guilty look on his face. Next to Gaz is Otter who is seems to be studying the laces of his boots and then there’s Ghost who is warily taking in the scene.

Nikto just looks at Gaz for a while before slowly nodding.  
“I know. Minotaur knows that too, he’s just scared.” He looks down at the ground for a while before adding: “We all are.”

“It’s okay.” Price tries to sound as gentle as he can.  
“We’ve just got to work together on this to save him; no matter what our differences are.”  
The captain looks at Nikto as he speaks and the Spetsnaz soldier nods and raises his gaze from the floor. 

“Thank you for helping us.” Nikto looks at Price first but then turns his head to look at the others as well. “I mean it. We wouldn’t stand a chance without you.”

“We probably wouldn’t either. Right now we all need each other, so we’ve just got to stick together no matter what.” Ghost says and Price agrees with the words of his lieutenant.  
“Well said. We’ll talk things through and plan what to do next. We’re going to make it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was so much easier to write! :D I don't know how much longer this fic will be, but there will be a few more chapters at least. I've already written the ending but what's going to happen before that I have no idea about, haha.  
> Hope you liked this chapter, comments make me happy as always! :D


	9. Chapter 9

The Bale twins return to the group after a while and Minotaur still has tear tracks on his cheeks but no one comments on that. Nikto just gives him a gentle pat on the back as Minotaur stands next to him.

Bale clears his throat and looks at Price.  
“What is the safest route to take? We need to get there as fast as we can but we can’t be seen. They are more than us and we don’t have much ammunition left.”

“We definitely have to avoid a fight. We’ll take the road down to the supermarket and then we’ll go through the graveyard and boneyard. There’s plenty of cover there; if we’re lucky no one will notice us.”  
Bale nods at Price’s suggestion while Ghost looks grim.  
“There is cover for the enemy too. They might as well be lying in wait for us.”  
“Yes, but we have to move somewhere and we don’t want to be caught out in the open in case there are snipers.”

“We’ll take that route then if everyone are on board?” Bale looks at the others who all nod.  
Price notices how Ghost still seems hesitant though and makes a note to himself to check up on his lieutenant later.

“When will we move out?” Otter’s question shakes Price from his thoughts and he turns to the corporal.  
“In about an hour and a half. If anyone needs to sleep or eat something, then makes sure to do that now. We’ll use the cover of darkness to move around. It might prevent us from seeing the enemy, but it will also make it harder for them to spot us.”

Everyone nods and they all spread out around the apartment. Bale goes over to check on Rodion while Nikto and Minotaur stand closely together; talking in hushed voices. Gaz seems to be going over his equipment while Otter, who has never been the social type, sits in a corner away from everyone eating a protein bar.

Ghost is looking out of the window with a distant look in his eyes. He hasn’t said anything for a while but something is obviously bothering the lieutenant. Price makes his way over to him.  
“Simon, are you alright?”

Ghost turns his head at the voice and looks at Price for a few seconds before looking out of the window again.  
“I’m fine, just thinking. It’s too quiet out there. Shouldn’t they have caught up to us by now? I feel like something is wrong; like we’re about to walk into an ambush or something.”  
He shakes his head. “Maybe I’m just paranoid; but I have a bad feeling about this.”

“Your feelings are usually right. Besides I’ve been wondering the same thing myself. Zakhaev isn’t one to just give up and let his enemies get away. They’re planning something, I just wonder what.”

Price sees how Ghost turns to look at where Rodion is sleeping in the bed. The young Russian has his forehead scrunched up in his sleep and is mumbling something. Bale is sitting next to him trying to soothe him back to sleep.

Ghost turns back to Price. “He really isn’t doing well, is he?”  
“No. His fever is rising and the infection is spreading fast. The lad has en expertise in field medicine; he’s fully aware of how bad this is. That’s why he’s asking to be left behind. He isn’t expecting himself to survive this.” 

“Bloody hell.”  
The captain nods. “Yeah, it’s bad. But, no matter what we’ll stick together. He has a chance of surviving and as long as there’s a chance we’ll fight for him.”

Ghost nods. “That we will. It won’t be easy though.”  
“This job rarely is.”  
“I guess not. But as Otter always says; where’s the fun in that?”

Price chuckles at the comment and pats Ghost on the arm before the lieutenant walks away.  
A few seconds go by before the captain hears footsteps behind him and a voice.

“Captain?” The voice is hesitant, almost cautious and Price turns around to see Nikto standing in front of him. The Spetsnaz soldier looks lost somehow as he’s fidgeting with the hem of his sleeve. 

Price furrows his brow in concern; something’s wrong. He carefully puts an hand on Nikto’s arm and squeezes.  
“I’m here. What is it?”  
“I just... Something feels wrong.” Nikto is just staring at something behind Price now; the look in his eyes distant as it was before. He’s dissociating again.

“Nikto? Can you hear me?” The captain tries to get his attention by softly speaking to him and it seems to help a little.  
“Yeah... Sorry, I just...” Nikto swallows before continuing: “I know Zakhaev isn’t just going to give up, it’s not in his nature. When I worked for the FSB I was a deep cover agent. I spent years getting to know Zakhaev. I know how he thinks; he doesn’t give up, he keeps pursuing you until you’re either dead or wish you were dead.” The masked man looks down for a second; visibly struggling with the memories. He’s trembling and Price sees how he fights to keep it together. 

Nikto looks over his shoulder at the other SAS operators as if he is afraid of them seeing him like this.  
Price gently takes his arm and leads him over to a small room that seems like it used to be a closet. There are some empty coat-hangers in there, but no clothes. It’s as far away from the others that they can get in this small apartment so it will give them some privacy at least.

“Sit down here, lad. Just try to breathe for a while, yeah? You’re okay.”  
Nikto nods and closes his eyes as he focuses on his breathing.

“You feel like you’re going to switch?”  
The masked man shakes his head. “I don’t think so, I’m just dissociating a bit. I’m sorry.”  
Price gently rubs his back. “Don’t be. Take your time. When you want to start talking again I’ll listen okay? In the meantime I’ll just wait.”

Almost half a minute goes by until Nikto straightens up and looks at Price.  
“Zakhaev’s smart, really smart and he plans ahead. He’s good at manipulating people; his allies, his enemies, basically anyone. He uses people as pawns in his game; that’s it. I don’t think he’s ever cared about anyone except for his father.” 

Nikto seems to get lost in his own thoughts for a while before he swallows and continues.  
“Zakhaev doesn’t let people get away easily. When I was undercover I saw him completely butcher one of his own men for failing to complete a mission. The man didn’t die a quick death; it was slow, agonizing and there was blood everywhere. The last thing you want to do is to get caught alive by Zakhaev; it’s...” He draws a deep breath and keeps talking:  
“At least that man got off easy. Zakhaev can do worse. The man does not have any limits on what he can do to another person.” 

As Nikto takes another pause Price can see that he’s trembling even worse now and his voice is shaky as well. The captain doesn’t interrupt though; just sits with him offering his support as he listens. 

“It wasn’t just torture that Zakhaev put me through. He did everything possible to degrade me as much as he could. He...” Nikto takes a pause again and he just stares in front of him as if the memories are getting too much. His breathing has gotten faster and the man is hyperventilating now. 

Price feels sick to his stomach; even though Nikto never finished his sentence the captain can still imagine what he was going to say. No one should have to go through something like that. He puts a hand on Nikto’s back and rubs soothing circles with his thumb.  
“Easy, Nikto. Deep breaths, yeah? Just breathe with me; come on lad.”

Once Nikto has gotten his breathing somewhat under control he continues with his story.  
“He told me every day that I was worthless, weak and that nobody cared about me. If you’re told something often enough you begin to believe it soon enough. Those words are still ringing in my ears after all this time.”

He brings his knees up to his chest and hugs them.  
The pain in his eyes is clear to see and Price keeps his hand on the man’s back for a while; unclear on what to do.

“You want me to get one of your friends?”  
“No, they have enough to worry about. I don’t want them to have to worry about this too just because I’m weak.” The self-loathing in Nikto’s voice makes Price’s heart clench.  
“I’m sorry for bothering you.”

“Look lad; you aren’t bothering me and I’m sure your friends will be happy to help if you asked them. I’ll sit with you for a while until you feel better. Like I said you aren’t bothering anyone. And you’re far from weak. You started talking about your past and brought up painful memories so that you could help us. That’s not weak at all. I’m not judging you for this, okay? No one is and you shouldn’t be judging yourself either.”

Nikto nods slowly but doesn’t really seem to believe Price’s words. At least the Spetsnaz soldier doesn’t protest, that’s something.

Price sits with him for a while longer; just like he said he would. Nikto doesn’t say anything he just keeps his eyes closed and focuses on his breathing once more.

Price can’t help but admire the strength Nikto has. The man has been through so much and still manages to be this great soldier who fights for his friends. It's obvious how much he struggles with the memories but he still faces his painful past only to help them out despite the pain he’s in. He’s saved Price’s life and helped him reunite with his team. The saddest thing about this is that Nikto doesn’t realize just how incredibly brave he is.

Price tries to shake those thoughts from his head as he continues to lend Nikto his support. For the moment there isn’t much else he can do but be there for the man.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another chapter! This took me a while, so sorry about that. I have been playing way to much modern warfare and warzone instead of writing lately. Haha.  
> Not much happening in this chapter, just some interactions but it was fun to write and I wanted to have some more interactions between Price and Nikto since that's why I started with this fic to begin with. And since they are all disscussing Zakhaev so much I figured this might trigger poor Nikto a lot :(  
> Hope you liked it and as always comments make me happy! :D


	10. Chapter 10

An hour goes by and it’s time to prepare to move out again. They’ve all used the time as well as they can to rest and eat. Rodion has been sleeping the whole time; finally getting some of the rest he needs. The young soldier still looks extremely weak when he’s woken up and he barely has the strength to get out of bed. Minotaur has to take his arm and gently support him as he stands up.

Price makes his way over to the two Russians and softly asks Rodion how he’s doing.  
“Not too good. I can barely stand up.” The words are slurred as Rodion tries to answer Price’s question.

“I’ll carry you then. It will be alright.” Minotaur has his arm around Rodion’s waist now as he talks to him.

The young soldier nods at that and opens his mouth to say something only to start coughing instead.  
His coughing intensifies until he’s doubled over and his legs give out. Minotaur easily catches him and sits him down on the bed again.

“Easy kid, it will be alright.” The older Russian pats Rodion’s back as the young man struggles to get some air into his lungs. 

Eventually the coughing subsides and Rodion slumps against Minotaur; completely exhausted. His body is trembling and he seems to have trouble even keeping his eyes open.  
Minotaur gently strokes his hand through the younger man’s hair.

“You’ll be alright kid; I’ve got you.”  
“I’m not a kid.” Rodion mumbles weakly and Minotaur gives a laugh that sounds almost like a sob as he pulls Rodion closer to him. 

“We’re all ready. How’s it going here?” It’s Bale who asks the question. He and Nikto have moved up to the end of the bed and are watching their comrades with worried eyes.

“He’s worse; much worse.” Minotaur’s voice is shaking as he looks at his brother.  
Bale just nods and walks up to them. Price moves out of the way so the staff sergeant can pass by.  
Once he’s there Bale reaches out a hand to take Rodion’s temperature. He then proceeds to softly put his hand on the young soldier’s cheek while looking him in the eyes.  
“Just hang in there, okay? We’ll be out of here soon enough.”

Rodion just nods before closing his eyes again. He’s got his head on Minotaur’s shoulder and is completely leaning on the older man.

Bale looks grim as he stands back up again.  
“Fever is higher. There isn’t much we can do about that now though. We should get going as quickly as possible.”  
He then looks at his brother. “You’ll carry him and then we’ll take it in turns. You might be strong but I don’t think you can walk with him in your arms all the way.”

“Eh, I can run there and back with him, that’s not a problem. Have you seen my muscles?”  
Bale just rolls his eyes at Minotaur’s response.  
“Everyone has because for some strange reason you refuse to wear a fucking jacket no matter how cold it is.”

Minotaur glares at him and is about to retort when Price interrupts.  
“We have to go now. The lad doesn’t have much time.”

That stops the twins arguing and Minotaur immediately lifts Rodion up over his left shoulder so that he’ll still be able to shoot with his right arm.

“Let’s go.” Price takes point and leads them all out of the apartment. He looks both ways before they step out into the dark. The sun is setting so it’s hard to see anything but he carefully scans for any sign of movement.

“Seems clear for now. Make sure to stay behind buildings, cars, anything you can use for cover. We don’t know if there are snipers on the rooftops.”

They all keep walking slowly through the night. They are almost by the supermarket now and Price makes sure to keep his eyes on the roof of the building as he’s walking.

He has just began to scan the higher buildings in front of him when Ghost whispers:  
“Sniper; everyone get to cover!”

Price sees the sniper just a second after Ghost has spotted him. It’s hard to see from this distance and he barely notices him; but there’s a dark figure in front of them. He’s on the roof of one of the apartments in the graveyard apartment complex a few hundred metres away.

The problem is that the sniper has spotted them too. His first shot goes just a decimetre over Gaz’ head and they all try to get behind cover as fast as they can. There’s a wall on the right side of the road they can hide behind but Price is the one who is furthest away from the cover.  
The others make it safety and Price hears another shot ring out as he runs for cover as fast as he can. His blood is pumping fast now and he can hear Ghost yelling at him to run faster. He keeps running and as soon as he’s near the others a hand grabs his elbow and pulls him to safety.

“Are you alright?”  
The captain sees Nikto looking at him; the masked man’s hand still on his arm.  
“Yeah, thanks for that.” Price says as he tries to catch his breath. Nikto pats his arm before turning away.

Price looks at the others and tries to see if anyone is injured.  
“Everyone else alright?”  
“We’re fine boss.” Gaz speaks up from where he is crouched next to Minotaur and Rodion.

Price hears another gunshot and sees how Bales moves back behind the cover and shields his head. The staff sergeant must have been trying to peek around the edge to see the sniper.

“Are you alright? Did he get you?” Minotaur’s voice is frantic and worried as he scans his brother for injuries.

Bale just shakes his head. “I’m fine. I managed to get a glimpse of the bastard. He’s got us pinned down, but he seems to be alone up there at least. There might be others on the surrounding rooftops though.”

This does not sound good. Price looks at the landscape around them to try to figure out what to do.

“Flanking him is not an option. And with him up there it’s not safe to follow our planned route. He’s got a free line of sight up there; we must try to take him down somehow.

The captain adjusts the hat on his head before continuing:  
“If we distract him with something then maybe one of us can take the shot.”

“I can do it. It might be a bit dark but I’m a better sniper than some fucking Russian.”  
“Corporal, shut your mouth!” The captain says in a stern voice.

Saying something like that in front of a group of Russian Spetsnaz soldiers is not a good idea. Especially not when Otter is the one who started the fight in which Rodion got injured.

“Right, sorry. Permission to take the shot?”

Price ponders for a moment and eventually agrees. Otter is a good sniper and he’s the only on who’s actually carrying a sniper rifle for the moment. The captain only wishes his corporal would sometimes think a bit more before he speaks.

“Do you see the burger town building ahead? You think you can make it there, Otter?”  
“Of course I can.”  
“Good. I’ll distract the sniper and you’ll run as fast as you can. You won’t be out of cover for long. Once you’re there I’ll distract the sniper again and hopefully get him to shoot. That’s when you shoot him, understood? You’ll only get one chance though, so make it count.”

“One chance is all I need.” Otter prepares himself for Price’s signal and the captain picks up a rock from the ground, hoping that it’s going to distract the sniper enough that the corporal might make it to safety.

Price throws the rock over the road and tells Otter to run. The captain hears the noise of the rock bouncing of a wall. It probably distracts the sniper a little bit, because Otter makes it to the burger town restaurant up ahead. So far so good.

Price searches the ground in front of him and then turns to the others.  
“Can anyone see a stick or a branch lying around somewhere?”

“There is one over here.” Bale picks up a stick from the ground and hands it to Price. The captain nods at him.

“Thanks for that. I’m sorry about before. The corporal’s a good soldier; but his people skills could be better sometimes.”  
Price wants to keep the peace between the SAS and Spetsnaz as much as he can. The Russians didn’t seem to react much though and Bale just shrugs.

“It’s alright. I know the feeling; we have one like that in our group as well.”  
He looks at his brother as he speaks and Minotaur just glares at him.

Price chuckles as he pulls of his glove and puts it on the end of the stick. This should work. He just has to hold the glove out so that it’s visible and maybe the sniper will fall for it and shoot. That will give Otter the opportunity to shoot him.

The captain tells Ghost to signal to Otter that the distraction is about to begin. The lieutenant gives the message to Otter before turning back to Price with a nod.

Price slowly begins to hold the glove out and hopes the sniper will take the bait. Nothing happens at first and the captain moves the stick he’s holding a little more. He holds his breath as he waits and suddenly he hears a shot ringing out. Not long after that another shot can be heard and he pulls the glove back. There’s a bullet hole right in the middle of the glove; turns out that sniper had a good aim after all.

“Otter, did you get him?”  
“Yes, the wanker’s down.” Otter leans against the wall and looks at the rest of the group.  
“I can’t see anyone else from here; I think the coast is clear for now.”

Price nods at that. “Good. We’ll have to be careful though; I’m sure there are more snipers out there somewhere. We’ll be by the graveyard warehouses soon enough; there will be more cover there.”

The group starts moving again with Price leading the way. It’s getting darker and darker as they move and they try their best to remain undetected. They can’t see anyone but they are all aware of how easy it is to miss an enemy in the darkness.

They make it to the warehouses by the graveyard without any problem and once there check every roof top to make sure they are alone.  
When they are half way through the area Bale suggests for them to stop to check on Rodion and that they then switch so Nikto carries the young man instead.

They go inside one of the warehouses and Minotaur gently lowers Rodion to the floor.  
“Kid? Hey, Rodion, look at me!” He pats Rodion’s cheek and tries to get a response. The young soldier groans a little and opens his eyes. He doesn’t say anything but at least he’s still conscious. Price can hear Minotaur draw a sigh of relief.

Nikto walks up to Minotaur and puts a hand on the man’s shoulder.  
“I’ll see if I can get him to drink some water and then we’ll be on our way again. You okay?”

Minotaur nods. “Yeah, I just hate seeing him like this.”  
“Me too. He’ll get help soon though; it will be alright.”

Nikto sits down next to Rodion as Minotaur gets up and walks over to his brother.

Price walks closer to Nikto and Rodion and sees how Nikto talks softly to the younger man as he holds the water bottle to his lips.

Rodion starts coughing after a few sips and Nikto pats his back.  
“Easy, deep breaths okay? Think you can drink a little more?”  
The young man shakes his head at that and Nikto puts the bottle away.

The masked man then gently lifts Rodion over his shoulder and turns to the others.  
“We’re ready.”

“Good. Let’s move slowly as before alright? And check the rooftops for any sign of movement.”  
Price takes the lead again as they walk out of the warehouse. He makes sure to tread carefully through the night; they want to be as silent as possible. The sun has set by now so it’s completely dark. The only source of light is the moon.

They walk slowly over to the boneyard. They’ll have to watch their step here; Price knows there are pieces of crashed airplanes all over the place.

There’s a wall to his left and Price walks closely to it as he moves forward. He holds his hand up as a signal for the group to stop. He thinks he heard something from the train station, but he can’t be sure.

It’s silent again but he has to check. The captain walks forward to peek around the edge of the wall.  
He can barely make out the train station from here and on the roof top he can see something that’s illuminated by the moon light. He’s not quite sure what but it’s most likely someone’s head.

“There might be a person up on that roof. I’m not sure though.”

Ghost peeks out as well to try and get a look.  
“Whatever it is it just moved. Chimneys don’t tend to do that.”

“Definitely a sniper then. Hopefully he won’t see us. Let’s stay behind cover and...”  
Price gets interrupted by Nikto who has raised his hand.  
“I think I hear something.”

The captain listens carefully and then he hears it; several voices coming from the train station.  
He dares to peek around the wall again and from a distance he sees several figures that are illuminated by a flashlight. He also manages to get a glimpse of Zakhaev himself. The man is limping badly and there is another man who helps support most of Mr Z’s weight.

It seems Zakhaev and is men aren’t exactly trying their best at being stealthy. Price can see at least more than a dozen men and he’s sure there are more enemies around. Most likely more snipers placed on the rooftops as well.

The coalition team is most likely going to have to reach out to base to change their extraction point from the train station to a safer location.

The captain hides behind cover again and looks at the others.  
“There are more than a dozen of them. We have to stay hidden; if they see us we don’t stand a chance in hell.”

“And Zakhaev? Is he there?”  
Price sees how Nikto is tightly clutching his pistol in his free hand and the captain can guess at what the soldier is thinking.

Price moves closer to the masked man and talks in a low voice.  
“You know you can’t do it. If you shoot him you are going to give away our position. They don’t know where we are right now; let’s keep it like that. I know you want to kill him and you’ll get the chance. Just not today.”

Nikto nods at that and looks up at Price. ”I know. I won’t shoot him, I just... I just want it to be over.”  
The masked man looks down at the ground after that and Price squeezes his shoulder sympathetically.

“I know. We’ll focus on getting out of here first. You okay, lad?”  
Nikto nods and Price pats him on the arm.

“Good. Let’s move carefully then. You’ll get your chance at killing Zakhaev; trust me.”  
“I do.”

The group manages to make it through the boneyard without being seen by anyone.  
They are not far away from the allegiance team’s LZ by now.

The group of soldiers decide to stop inside hangar nine so Bale can contact the base.  
They should then stay in the hangar until a chopper arrives.

Price is the first to walk inside and he holds his rifle in front of him as he scans for any movement.  
He doesn’t want to risk anything; not when they’re this close.  
Once he’s sure the area is clear he signs for the rest of the group to follow.

When they are all inside Price takes out the radio he’s been carrying and hands it to Bale.  
“Contact them. I’ll help check on Rodion in the mean time.”

The staff sergeant nods. “Thank you.”  
He walks away and Price is just about to check on Rodion when he hears Nikto’s distressed voice behind him.  
“Rodion! Wake up, come on now. Open your eyes. Please...”

The captain turns around to see what’s going on.  
Rodion seems to be completely unconscious now and Nikto is desperately trying to get a response from the young man. Price hurries over to them and sits down on Rodion’s other side. He reaches out a hand to check for a pulse and to his relief he feels it. It’s irregular but it’s still there. Rodion’s skin is clammy to the touch though and the captain can feel the heat radiating from him.  
Price meets Nikto’s scared gaze and tries to sound as calm as he can.  
“He’s got a pulse, alright? Bale is contacting your base right now; it will be fine. Just stay with him.”

Nikto just nods and strokes his hand through the younger man’s hair.  
The captain gently pats Nikto’s back before standing up. He looks towards where Bale is standing and frowns.

Price only hears one side of the conversation but he can hear the frustration in Bale’s voice. Once the conversation is over the staff sergeant kicks the wall of the hangar and swears loudly.  
This has Price worried. Bale seems like a level-headed person who doesn’t lose his temper very often, so this rare display of emotion must mean that something is very wrong. 

Price makes his way over to Bale and puts his hand on the staff sergeant’s shoulder.  
“Easy, you okay?”  
“I’m sorry about that; I just... They refuse to send a chopper out in the dark. They’ll send one in five hours. I don’t know if Rodion can wait that long.”

Price can feel worry growing within himself at Bale’s words. The man is right; Rodion’s condition is bad and he needs help as soon as possible. Five hours is a long time to wait.  
Is this really how it’s going to end? They have come so far; it can’t just end with the young soldier dying now. 

Price tries to clear his head of those thoughts as he looks at the staff sergeant.  
“There isn’t much we can do now. We’ll tell the others, try to stay as calm as we can and then we’ll just wait.”

Bale just nods at the captain’s words. He still looks like he’s on the verge of breaking down but he gains control of his emotions and together the leaders walk over to break the news to the others.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A longer chapter this time! This was fun to write even if it took me some time.  
> Next chapter is probably going to be the last.
> 
> As always, comments make me really happy and help me improve my writing! :D


	11. Chapter 11

The tension in the room is high as Bale breaks the news to the group.  
Rodion is still unconscious in Nikto’s arms and the masked man looks like he’s very close to tears by now. He holds his young friend as close as possible as he helplessly looks at his leader.

Minotaur looks completely heartbroken before walking over to Nikto and Rodion. He sits down on Rodion’s other side and Price can hear the man start sobbing as he runs his fingers through his young comrade’s hair.

Bale stands rooted to the spot for a while; his head hanging before he moves towards his friends. He sits down next to his brother and puts his right arm around him. The staff sergeant then reaches out with his left hand to gently clasp Nikto’s arm.

Price draws a long sigh before turning to look at his team.  
“This is bad news but it doesn’t mean we’ll give up. We’ll stay in this hangar and keep a look out for enemies. We have come this far; we are not giving up on him now.”

Ghost nods. “I’ll stand guard for the moment; make sure no enemies come close to our position.”  
The lieutenant walks away and Otter follows him after looking at the Spetsnaz soldiers with actual guilt in his eyes.

Kyle is still standing next to Price and the sergeant’s gaze is resting at the floor. He looks even guiltier than Otter and Price can see tears in his eyes. The captain gently puts a hand on his sergeant’s back. 

“You okay Kyle?”  
Gaz nods. “Yeah, I just... God, this is messed up. They should send a chopper here, no matter how bloody dark it is. Do they even know how bad his condition is?”

“Yeah, Bale told them. I can understand though why they don’t want to land in hostile territory in the dark. It’s a tricky situation we’re in. But yeah, it’s messed up. As soldiers we are used to doing something. We’re not the kind of people who just stand around and wait when thing go wrong. In this situation waiting is the only thing we can do. We are all helpless here; there isn’t much we can do for the lad. I think that’s the hardest thing for all of us; it’s affecting the whole group not just his comrades.”

“I just can’t stop thinking about it. About what happened when we ran into them. Everything happened so fast and I can’t know for sure, but... I think it was my bullet that hit Rodion. Otter might have been the one to start the fight, but my bullet caused that wound.”

The sergeant’s gaze wanders over to the Spetsnaz soldiers for a while. Minotaur is clearly crying by now and Bale is holding him close. Rodion is lying on the floor with Nikto’s jacket as a pillow.  
The masked man is leaning against the wall next to Rodion; his eyes just staring down at the floor in front of him. The whole group looks miserable; as if their last hope was just taken away from them.

Gaz draws in a shaky breath before continuing:  
“He might be dying because of me. It’s my fault.”

The captain shakes his head immediately at that.  
“That’s not true. You said it yourself; everything was happening so fast. There were bullets everywhere. It might as well have been you that got hit. If it were Ghost or Otter that shot Rodion; would you blame them? Would you tell them that it was all their fault?”

“Of course I wouldn’t!”  
“Then stop blaming yourself, son. It was not your fault, okay?”

Price looks Gaz deep in the eyes as he squeezes his arm.  
“Blaming yourself isn’t going to make Rodion any better.”

The sergeant nods. “I know. It’s just hard. Before this mission I didn’t care much for any of them. I looked at them and all I saw was more Russians. More enemies.”

He swallows and continues: “Now I see them as actual human beings; as good men who care about each other and that’s why this hurts so bloody much.”

Price nods at his sergeant’s words.  
“That’s the thing about war. We never see the enemy as human. We can’t because that would just make our job even harder. They’re targets; it’s as simple as that. Only; they’re not. The people we shoot at are human beings with families; with feelings and a life of their own. Until we take that all away from them. Now a lot of our enemies are actually guilty of horrible things. Like Barkov, like Al Qatala, like Zakhaev. These people on the other hand?”

He nods towards the Spetsnaz soldiers that are still sitting closely together.  
“We only considered them as enemies because Zakhaev made us think they were. We thought they were enemies because they were Russian Spetsnaz. This is what war does to us all, Kyle. It messes with your head.”

Price looks at his sergeant and says as softly as he can:  
“Don’t blame yourself for this. We’ll all help each other get through these five hours as best as we can. There’s still hope, alright?” 

“Yeah. I’ll be with Ghost and Otter keeping an eye out for enemies. If there’s anything I can do for Rodion or his friends let me know, yeah?”

The captain nods and pats his arm.  
“I will.”

Once Kyle has walked away Price moves over toward the Spetsnaz soldiers. He needs the radio from Bale so he can contact the coalition base and change their LZ to a safer location.  
He softly approaches the Russians.

“Bale, can I borrow the radio for a while? We need to change our extraction point.”  
“Of course.” Bale stands up and hands the radio to Price. The staff sergeant looks almost lost as he stands by his team and watches over their youngest member.

Price squeezes his shoulder before walking away. He stands in one of the corners of the hangars as he radios the base.  
The conversation runs smoothly and Laswell agrees to send a chopper to Grazna hills instead.  
Hopefully there will be fewer enemies there. First of all they need to wait until the sun goes up so the allegiance team can get evacuated and Rodion can get the help he needs.  
The only thing they can do now is wait.

The hours go by and Rodion doesn’t wake up. He does make a sound after four hours though; only to deliriously plead for help. Minotaur is sitting with the younger soldier; talking soothingly to him as he tries to get a response.

Price moves over to see if there is anything he can do to help and Minotaur looks at him helplessly.  
“I can’t help him.” The Russian’s eyes are filled with tears as he looks at the captain.

“Keep talking to him okay? Just stay with him, he’ll calm down soon.”  
Price sits down by Rodion’s legs and puts a hand on the young man’s kneecap; his thumb rubbing soothing circles.

Rodion just keeps whimpering and making distressed noises. His eyes are clamped shut the whole time and he doesn’t respond to anything.

“Easy, kid. Schh, you’re alright. I’ve got you, you’ll be fine.”  
Minotaur keeps talking to him as he gently strokes his hand through Rodion’s hair that is soaked with sweat.

By now Nikto and Bale have moved up to stand next to them. The two soldiers have got their arms around each others as they watch the scene in front of them.

After what feels like forever Rodion eventually settles down. Minotaur strokes his hand through Rodion’s hair one last time before burying his head in his hands; his body wracked with sobs.

Bale steps around Rodion and sits down next to his brother to put his arms around him.  
The staff sergeant looks completely exhausted and on the verge of breaking down himself.

Price feels Rodion’s pulse again and it’s weak and irregular. The man’s clothes are completely soaked with sweat by now and he’s getting weaker by the second. It’s only an hour left now but Price doesn’t even know if the young Spetsnaz soldier can make it that long.

The captain looks at Nikto who’s still standing next to Rodion. The masked man is trembling as he looks at his comrade and Price is instantly by his side. He puts his arm around Nikto and gently guides him away from the others.

“How are you feeling, lad?”  
“I’m fine, I just... I feel so helpless. I wish there’s was something I could do for him.”

“You and your friends have done everything you can for him and he knows that. Help will be arriving soon. Don’t give up now.”

“I won’t, I just hate being so useless.”  
Nikto looks down at the floor and Price gently squeezes his arm.

“You’re not useless; you’re there for him. That means something, okay?”

The masked man nods. “I’ll go sit with him again; see how he’s doing.”  
“You sure you don’t need to rest or eat something? I could sit with him for a while. I think all three of you could benefit from that.”

Price looks at where the Bale twins are sitting by Rodion’s side. They’ve both got their arms around each other as they watch over their young comrade.

“I want to sit with him; it’s the only thing I can do for the moment. I think it’s just going to make me feel worse if I don’t. Thanks for the offer though.”

“Of course. Just tell me if there’s anything I can do. We’ll get through this.”

“Thank you.”

After Nikto has walked away Price moves over to where his own squad is standing. He does make sure to check in on the Spetsnaz soldiers from time to time though.

After a while they can all see how to sun begins to rise and Price feels relief just by looking at it.  
He moves over to the Spetsnaz soldiers to notice that Bale has walked away a bit and is now talking into the radio.

Minotaur and Nikto are both sitting next to Rodion who’s still deeply unconscious. His friends seem worried but they do look like they’ve actually got some hope now.

“I take it Bale is contacting base?”

“Yes. We need to know when the chopper will be arriving so we know when to move out.”  
Nikto looks up at Price as he answers the captain’s question. The masked man has his hand on Rodion’s head and is gently stroking back some hair that is sticking to the younger man’s forehead.

“How is he?”  
“Not good. His pulse is getting really weak.”  
Minotaur is the one who answers this time. He’s sitting on Rodion’s other side; softly holding the young man’s hand in his.

“Hopefully it won’t be long now.”  
Just as Price has finished his sentence Bale returns. The staff sergeant looks relatively hopeful so at least the news can’t be that bad this time.

“They are sending us a chopper; we’ve just got to make sure the LZ is clear from enemies. We should get going as soon as possible.”

Price sees the relief in Minotaur and Nikto’s eyes as their leader tells them the news.  
It’s still not over but it’s a step in the right direction at least.

“Good. I’ll tell the others to prepare.”

A few minutes later they are all ready to move out again. Bale is the one to carry Rodion this time; the younger soldier is slung over the staff sergeant’s left shoulder so that he can still carry a pistol in his right hand.

Yet again Price takes the lead. He clutches his rifle as he carefully looks at his surroundings. It’s getting brighter outside; meaning that it’s easier to spot their enemies. The only problem is that it works the other way around as well.

The captain doesn’t see any enemies though and the group makes their way toward the racing track.  
They follow the road and even though it takes them a while they make it there before the chopper.

Once there Bale puts Rodion down on the ground and sits with him. Minotaur and Nikto are standing close by; rifles in hand as they scan for enemies. Ghost has got binocular in his hands and is looking towards Barakett promenade.

“I can’t see any movement.”  
The S.A.S lieutenant keeps scanning the area just to be sure.

The group stays in the same place as they wait for the chopper. It feels like it’s been forever and they’re almost starting to lose hope until they hear it. The sound of a helo incoming. Price looks up and sees it; the allegiance markings are clear on the vehicle. He closes his eyes and sighs out of relief. They actually made it in time.

Turning his head he sees how Nikto and Minotaur bend down to hug both Bale and Rodion. The young soldier is still unconscious but his teammates are actually crying with relief.

When Price looks to his right he sees Gaz watching the scene in front of them with a fond smile on his lips.  
“We did it, we actually did it. I didn’t think I’d ever say this but they’d make great allies.”  
The captain chuckles. “Yes they would. It would definitely make it easier to stop Zakhaev.”

“I’d say we did well, huh?”  
“Absolutely.” Price pats Gaz on the shoulder before looking over toward the Spetsnaz soldiers.

The chopper has landed now and the medics are getting out to help Rodion.  
Price’s gaze lands at Nikto who’s standing next to Bale. There’s something that’s been weighing on his mind for quite some time. He walks over to Nikto and gets his attention and the Russian soldier follows him away from the others.  
“What’s up, captain?”

“I’ve been thinking about something for a while now. Do you remember what you said to me earlier about your identity switch? You said you shouldn’t be like this.”  
Nikto immediately averts his eyes from Price. It’s obvious he still blames himself for it and it seems like he thinks that Price is going to reprimand him for it. Just the thought of that makes Price’s heart clench.

“In a way you were right. You shouldn’t be like this. You shouldn’t be like this because you should never have had to suffer through all that trauma. I don’t know everything you’ve been through in your life; but I do know this. You didn’t deserve what Zakhaev did to you; you didn’t deserve whatever happened to you as a child. It’s not your fault, none of it is. What happened to you was not your fault; your identity disorder is not your fault. I want you to know that. You’ve suffered like no one should have to suffer and yet you’ve survived. You’ve survived to become this good man and fine soldier you are today and it’s been a pleasure working with you.”

Nikto’s eyes are shining with tears by time Price finishes his speech.  
“Thank you. For everything.”

The captain stretches out a hand to Nikto who accepts the handshake. Price then carefully pulls the other man into a hug, clapping him on the back. He expected Nikto to tense up or pull away but even though he does tense up at first he returns the hug; almost clinging on to Price as he pushes his face into the captain’s shoulder.

Price holds him like that for a while until Nikto pulls away and wipes the tears from his eyes.  
“I’m sorry.” 

Price shakes his head and smiles gently at him. “Don’t be sorry. You need to accept who you are; accept that your disorder does not make you weak. You are probably one of the strongest men I’ve ever met. I just wish you realized that yourself.”  
“I don’t feel strong though. I feel like I’m losing my mind sometimes.”

“It’s okay to feel that way. It’s okay for you to feel sad; it doesn’t make you weak. It’s okay to be in pain sometimes.  
Just promise me one thing, okay? Don’t ever tell yourself again that you are worthless or that nobody cares about you. That is far from the truth.”

“Thank you.” The man’s eyes are still filled with tears but his gaze is even as he looks Price in the eyes. He then turns his head to look at Rodion who is being helped into the helo by the medics.  
“We have to go now. But like I said... Thank you. I mean it.”

“Take care of yourself. I hope we can work together again sometime in the future. Like I said, it’s been a pleasure.”  
“Likewise.” Nikto gives Price a short nod before turning around and walking towards his friends.

Bale gives him a pat on the back as he reaches them and the Spetsnaz leader then walks up to Price.  
“I can’t thank you enough for this. Rodion is getting the help he needs and he is going to survive.  
I owe you. We all do.”

“You’ve helped us a lot too. And as I said before; you can thank us by working with us some time again in the future. We need all the allies we can get.”

“We’ll work with you; you have my word.” Bale stretches out his hand for Price to take and the leaders shake hands.

“Good. Take care of yourself and your team, okay? It’s some fine soldiers you’ve got there.”  
“Likewise.” Bale smiles at Price before turning around to walk over to the chopper that’s going to take the Spetsnaz soldiers out of there.

Price watches as the Spetsnaz team flies away before turning to his fellow comrades.  
“Good job, everyone. We might just have made some new allies. We’re going to need it in the fight against Zakhaev.”

“More people to work with. How lovely.” Otter’s voice is dripping with sarcasm and Price claps him on the back as he chuckles at the corporal.

Together the coalition team start making their way toward their own extraction point.  
The mission might not have gone the way they planned, but maybe something good will come out of it. Only time will tell.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, this is the final chapter! I want to thank everyone who has read, liked and commented on this fic, It really means a lot to me! <3  
> This has been really fun to write, even though I've been struggling with it sometimes.  
> I'm thinking about writing more fics that takes place after this one, since I really enjoyed writing the friendship between Price and Nikto.  
> I've also got a few one shots that I'm working on. One focusing on Bale and one about Otter and his friendship with Wyatt.
> 
> The dialogue between Price and Nikto toward the end of this chapter is something I wrote after chapter 3 or something. I just felt like Nikto really needed to hear those words.  
> And we all need a captain Price in our lives.


End file.
